Bishop Moore Ousts Pasco 4-1

DADE CITY - For the first two minutes, 15 seconds, Pasco senior Joe Montelongo appeared on his way to one of those vintage nights Tuesday. He overpowered the Orlando Bishop Moore defense and generated his own scoring chances.

They just didn't turn into goals.

He took a header off a well-placed throw-in by Alex Hollander, but it sailed a foot wide right. A minute later he worked the ball to the left of the net, but his blast was a split-second too late, and hit the side of the net.

After that, the Hornets made the necessary adjustments, marking up Pasco County's leading scorer with 48 goals this season and 143 for his career. The Bishop Moore offense took care of the rest, winning 4-1 in a Class 4A-Region 2 boys prep soccer semifinal at W.F. Edwards Stadium.

"We were aware of him," Hornets coach Mark Keymont said of Montelongo. "We made sure we took care of him."

The Pirates (20-6-2) finished with just five shots - three in the last 77:44, compared with 14 for Bishop Moore.

"We didn't put the ball in the net," Pasco coach Barry Grayling said. "If we'd have done that, things might have been different."

Mark Keymont Jr. opened the scoring 10 minutes in after having an earlier shot glance off the right post, get deflected by Pirates keeper Jacob Pollock, and hit the crossbar, staying in play the entire time.

But the Pirates tied the game less than three minutes later, as midfielder Roman Farias took an excellent pass by senior Trent Sumner, chested it to the ground, worked upfield about 20 yards and outguessed Hornets keeper Pablo Rodriguez, shooting to the right while he dived to the left.

Jorge Florez gave Bishop Moore the lead for good with 3:55 left in the first half, punching in a loose ball in front of the Pasco goal. The Hornets added two more goals in the second half, including another for Keymont.

"I think we should've gone further," Montelongo said of the end to his final prep season. "We didn't play as hard as we usually do."