TAMPA - It was just about everything you'd expect from an Alonso-Gaither soccer match. Heavy on talent. Hotly contested. Well-played.
Tuesday, it was pushed up a notch in a live-or-die Class 6A-Region 2 semifinal, which, in front of a large crowd of screaming fans, ended in a 3-2 Alonso victory.
"Every time we play, you know it's going to be emotional," Alonso coach Ray DiPompo said. "When Gaither got up 1-0 in the 51st minute they were riding high, and it got that much more intense. Fortunately, we answered."
Gaither's first goal, a breakaway that featured Darnell King sprinting ahead of a defender and then slipping by the keeper, broke a string of close misses by both squads.
To Alonso's credit, the momentum didn't shift. In fact, if anything, the goal seemed to fire up the Ravens.
Seven minutes after the Cowboys scored, Alonso's Tom Turke tipped a ball that had bounced out of a scrum. Turke's ball floated softly into the back of the net.
Four minutes later, it was Chase Faulmann's turn to score on a similar play.
"Scoring when that ball starts bouncing around in the box happens a lot in high school soccer," Gaither coach Eric Sims said. "But I have to give Alonso credit. They made the most of their chances."
Alonso's Julio Perez put the Ravens up 3-1 with eight minutes left when he broke into a sprint, quickly reversed his dribble and fired a shot into the left side of the net.
It turned out to be an important goal, because Gaither (20-3-3) made a furious push as Steven Tobon scored with two minutes left.
"We weren't giving up," Tobon said. "We had to give it everything we had right to the end."
Alonso (25-6-2) now travels to play in Friday's regional final at Ocoee, which defeated Melbourne 1-0.
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