Boys soccer: Crusaders surge past Tampa Prep

TAMPA - Tampa Catholic's Andrew Buckley wasn't having one of his best days for the first hour of the Crusaders' Saturday afternoon home game against Tampa Prep.

That all changed in the 61st minute when teammate Matt Moore made a quick give-and-go, turned into the center and found Buckley 25 yards from goal. Buckley took a touch forward, and then lashed a shot into the top right corner of the net.

Two minutes later, Buckley used his speed to race onto a long clearance, and flicked a finish past the advancing goalkeeper for his second goal, giving the Crusaders a 3-1 victory against the Terrapins.

"It was big-time," Buckley said of his opening goal. "It gave me a lot of confidence. My coaches were yelling at me, trying to pick up my spirit, but once I got that shot, I played well for the best of the game. It gave me so much momentum."

Momentum for not only Buckley, but the Crusaders as a whole. Having seen late leads slip against sides like Jesuit, Orlando Bishop Moore and Tallahassee Leon already this season, Tampa Catholic did have to hold on, but a penalty save by Paul Wilson with 11 minutes to go cemented the victory.

The Crusaders had taken the lead in the 13th minute as a pass from Brendan McCarron found Buckley on the right of the penalty area, and his low cross was diverted into his own net by a Tampa Prep defender under pressure from a pair of onrushing Crusaders. The Terrapins hit back in the 26th minute, though, as a long free kick from the left by Jake Peterson eluded everyone at the far post and slipped into the right corner of the net.

As in their loss to Berkeley Prep last Saturday, though, the Terrapins played well for the bulk of the game, but were unable to create enough opportunities in the attacking third, and saw defensive breakdowns let them down in their own penalty area. It was evidently a source of frustration for the players as they left the field.

"It's frustrating, and it's not only frustrating for me as the coach, but you can see it's frustrating for the players too," Terrapins coach Doug Smith said. "Something has to happen with the players we have up top. We should be creating more opportunities and putting some of those away, and it's not happening. We've only got a week before districts, and we're still trying to find that connection that I don't think we've been able to find all year.

"I told the guys that if it's not clicking then hard work will help it click, and that's got to be the foundation from where we build. If we start there and build up then I think we should be OK, but there's no doubt about it, it is frustrating."

Buckley had missed opportunities, including a pair of chances where he was put in on goal, and a close-range header that ballooned off the ground over the crossbar, but redeemed himself with his double strike. The manner of the victory left Buckley feeling good about the Crusaders' chances with the playoffs right around the corner.

"It will help all of our confidence a lot, because we all really wanted this win," Buckley said. "We all came out here today, we had no clue what the score was going to be because it's been all over the place with them, Jesuit, everyone. This helps us a lot."