East Lake boys soccer primed and ready

If the postseason trend of the past few years continues on its previous path, the East Lake boys soccer team will pack its bags unusually early.

In 2007, a loss to Palm Harbor University came in the state playoff's third round. Jesuit ousted the Eagles in the second round in 2008 and that same Hillsborough program sent them home in the opening game last year.

Continuing in that downward style would leave East Lake out of the postseason all together.

As giddy as that would make the entire Class 5A region, don't bet on it.

At 14-1-2, the Eagles are playing some of the best soccer in the area and will enter this week's District 5A-11 tournament as its top seed.

In fact, they haven't even lost to a Pinellas County team in about two years.

"We've been playing very consistently all year long," said Coach Sergei Stopek. "There haven't really been the ups and downs, but going into districts is different."

Perhaps the Eagles' greatest asset this season, Stopeck said, is a better sense of what's at stake once playoff soccer begins.

"It's understanding that crazy things can happen in the playoffs and you have to be mentally strong to overcome them," he said. "This year we're going in very healthy, and, with our maturity, I think we're bringing a lot of experience that I hope will pay off in the long run."

While a deep run in the state playoffs is the ultimate goal, the focus this week must be on winning the district. That will likely mean going through No. 2 seed Seminole, a team they went 2-0-1 against.

"They're biggest strength is probably their offensive weapons," Stopek said. "Guys like Charles Lynch, Shane Wixted and Sean Rafferty are very dangerous."

Strong midfield and defensive presences, anchored by senior J.J. Bostic, are what East Lake relies on to slow down any attack.

The Eagles are also armed with scorers themselves. Nick Patterson, Anthony Giordano, Brett Hummel and Matthew Kimball all rank as some of the county's top threats.

The District 5A-11 tournament will be held this year at Clearwater High School and begin Monday. The host team, Dunedin and Tarpon Springs round out the field and will try to crash the much-expected East Lake-Seminole championship game party Friday night.

CLASS 6A, DISTRICT 7

It may be all North Pinellas in this spread-out league.

Countryside (13-8-1) and last year's Class 5A state champs Palm Harbor University (14-5-3) both have the potential to walk away with a district crown once the Tuesday to Friday tournament wraps up at Sarasota Riverview High.

A smattering of injuries throughout the year along with a couple early defeats may have lessened the intimidation factor PHU typically steps onto the field with, but taking Coach Alex Delgado's team lightly could quickly put an end to one's season.

Countryside has taken its lumps from some of Pinellas and Pasco counties' top teams, but that was largely out of district.

Host Sarasota Riverview will likely represent the biggest outside threat to Countryside and PHU. St. Petersburg, Sarasota and North Port are the other three programs involved.