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© St. Petersburg Times, published January 30, 2002
ST PETERSBURG -- The key words after Tuesday's semifinals were "next year."
Shorecrest (7-8-20) and Indian Rocks Christian (5-13-1) will lose only seven seniors combined to graduation.
But this year, their young lineups -- sophomores, freshmen and middle-schoolers -- couldn't overcome St. Petersburg Catholic and Cardinal Mooney on Tuesday.
St. Petersburg Catholic scored in the opening minute of the first overtime to beat host Shorecrest 2-1, and Cardinal Mooney had no trouble defeating Indian Rocks Christian 8-2.
"The future looks good," Shorecrest coach Richard Berthelot said. "I told every one of my guys as they walked out, "You know, next year is your year.' "
The Barons' John Kuche answered an early Shorecrest goal by Matt Mosby with a game-tying goal of his own just before halftime.
Kuche found the back of the net in the first minute of overtime and the Barons (11-4-4) held on to advance.
Cardinal Mooney (12-6-1) overpowered Indian Rocks Christian, taking a 5-0 lead at the break.
The Eagles scored two goals late in the second half, but couldn't get ahead.
"We had nothing to lose," IRC coach Peter Morgan said. "We were the last seed, they were the first. We had nothing to lose."