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Team relishes a shot at finals
By BRANT JAMES, Times Staff Writer SPRING HILL -- It was minutes after the Class 3A, District 7 boys soccer championship at Leesburg High. Principal Charles McDaniel, the administrator in charge this night in early February, switched his walkie-talkie to his left hand and extended the right to Springstead coach Sal Calabrese, who was escorting his team off the field after a controversial 1-0 loss to Central. "Your team played great," McDaniel said. "You guys are going to go far." Calabrese smiled politely -- more of a muted grimace -- thanked him, and trundled off with an arm full of clipboards and soccer balls. At that moment Calabrese had his doubts, and so did his players. As district runners-up, the Eagles automatically advanced to regional play, but were virtually assured a string of road games in the single-elimination tournament. After some stern talk and a recommitment to the basics that helped Springstead begin the season with 13 wins and a tie, the Eagles won, 3-2, at District 8 champion George Jenkins on Feb. 8, then earned a bye into the region final when their semifinals opponent was disqualified from the tournament for using an illegal player. Two weeks and a change of mood later, Springstead (16-3-2) stands on the brink of county history, one win from becoming the first Hernando team to advance to the Florida Finals when it plays at Merritt Island (15-2-5) at 7:30 p.m. "Everybody wakes up in the morning and they can't wait until it's Friday," said senior defender Mike Sullivan. "We want to go play." Springstead's players, some of whom were on the 1999-2000 Springstead team that lost in the region finals to Bishop Moore, understand the weight of this game. "It would be great to go to the final four," said Sullivan, the only current player to start for the 1999-2000 squad. "Right now, we're just thinking about the game, but (tonight), if we win and go on, we could look where we are, and being one of the last four in the state would be amazing." The Florida Finals will be held Thursday and Friday at Pepin-Rood Stadium on the University of Tampa campus. The Region 2 by Lyman assured that Springstead would be rested and healthy, but also anxious. "They all wanted to play yesterday," Calabrese said. "(Son and goaltender) Dan (Calabrese) kept telling his mom, "I want to play this now.' " Knowing that three wins separate them from a state championship makes them want to play even more. "They've been thinking about that," Sal Calabrese said. "The other day we were training and (senior) Bobby (Colon) turned to (assistant coach Dave) Sullivan and said, "We have a shot at this.' " "I liked seeing that because he had been a little flat. But now he looks really focused onto getting into the next round." Dave Sullivan, who joined the team as an invaluable volunteer this season, hopes the community is noticing. "Maybe this little run they're having here will shed a little light onto, "Hey there is a good soccer team here,' " he said. As historic as tonight's game is for the county, it would have been much bigger had Merritt Island not eliminated Central, 1-0, on Tuesday. The Bears would have hosted Springstead had they won. Calabrese, who watched the game with most of his team, admitted playing close to home would have been nice, but wasn't upset about not playing Central a fourth time. The teams tied in their two regular-season meetings. "I'm not sure I wanted to go against them," he said. "Of course, we would have liked to play in our own back yard, but we're just itching to play." -- Brant James can be reached at 848-1407. Send e-mail to brant@sptimes.com.
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