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Cougars 'flat' but still advance

DURANT -- Durant and Bradenton Lakewood Ranch won semifinal games Tuesday, setting up the district final at 7 p.m. Thursday and sending the teams to the regional playoffs.

Durant shut out Bradenton Bayshore 5-0 and Lakewood Ranch edged East Bay 3-2.

With an assist from Colleen Feeney, Sara Bock scored Durant's first goal in the 20th minute.

In the 30th minute, Mandy Anton scored on a header. Five minutes later, Anton added another goal, giving the Cougars a 3-0 lead. Heather Williams recorded both assists.

Not to be outdone, Cougars senior midfielder Beth Outlaw scored the final goal of the half with less than one minute remaining.

Outlaw's second goal came with four minutes remaining in the game. Racing down the left sideline, she found a hole and fired a shot to the right side. "To be truthful, we were a little flat tonight," Durant coach Dick Sheffield said. "We are playing teams we have played and they know how to defense us."

Sheffield had plenty of reasons to be pleased with the Cougars' win, though.

"So far, we have set two school records. This is the first Durant team to win 23 games and the first to record 20 shutouts all in one season."

The first game of the night started slow with neither team able to control passes. In the 20th minute, Lakewood Ranch's Hanna Ospina found a seam to slip through for a goal.

The Mustangs then found their intensity, attacking the net regularly.

East Bay had only five shots, scoring on a penalty kick and an unassisted goal by Lisa Verbosky in the 22nd minute of the second half.

"We started out a little rough tonight," Lakewood coach Gaetano Virgilio said. "The touches just were not there. Everybody seemed a little flat until after the first goal and then they began to develop some intensity.

"Overall, I was very pleased with their play. It gave us a good jump-start for (the district final) and the regionals."

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