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Up 3-0, Bears hang on to beat Dreadnaughts

Central had the skill and the experience, and Lakeland ran out of time as the Bears moved on.

By BRANT JAMES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 8, 2002

BROOKSVILLE -- The skill level, unlike the score, wasn't very close.

Central dominated for all but four minutes Thursday night, won the vast number of individual battles and amassed a huge shots advantage, but still had to scramble to hold off feisty Lakeland 3-2 in a Class 3A, Region 2 quarterfinal.

"We played very well, especially in the beginning," Central coach John Andruss said, "but we made some mistakes, got caught up in the emotion at the end, and it almost cost us."

The District 7 champion Bears (18-3-2) got two goals from leading scorer Sean O'Sullivan (32). O'Sullivan's second goal finished a great run and center from Tim Woods and gave the Bears a 3-0 lead with 33 minutes, 17 seconds remaining.

The Dreadnaughts (9-5-7) were awarded a momentum-altering penalty kick 10 minutes later, however, and Shaun Irwin beat keeper Mike Dye.

Lakeland became more than a nuisance 10 minutes later when Steven Opoku barely stayed onsides to thread the defense inside the penalty box and flick in another goal.

"The PK ... the refs tend to decide whether it should go (the opponents') way or not and I think they kind of favored them a little bit," O'Sullivan said. "It kind of changed momentum a little bit."

Central then had to hold on against a team playing eight freshmen whose key playmaker, Tony Lauretta, left in the fifth minute with an ankle injury.

The Bears play Tuesday in a regional semifinal against the Winter Park Lake Howell-Merritt Island winner.

Central outshot the Dreadnaughts 35-7, forcing keeper Reece Miller to make nine saves. Dye had no saves.

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