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© St. Petersburg Times, published February 23, 2002
TAMPA -- In a Class 4A boys semifinal Friday at Pepin/Rood Stadium, Coral Reef needed overtime to defeat Orange Park 3-2.
Orange Park got two goals in the first half from Felipe Munoz and Michael Green to take a 2-0 lead. But Coral Reef stormed back with second-half scores from Bryant Salter and Alejandro Gessen to tie the score and send the game into overtime.
The Barracudas' comeback was complete when Mario Franca slipped a shot past Raiders goalkeeper David Walker.
OLYMPIC HEIGHTS 2, WESTERN 1: Boca Raton Olympic Heights got a goal and an assist from midfielder Asa Pepia and another score from Tommy Sedita in the first half and then held on for the win.
Olympic Heights, which defeated both Gaither and Bloomingdale during the regionals, takes a 21-0-3 mark into the boys final where it will face Coral Reef (22-2-2) today at 7:30 p.m.
LAKE MARY 2, AMERICAN 1: Junior midfielder Jessica Zabel scored twice and her teammates' defense held on despite giving up a late goal in a girls 4A semifinal.
Zabel benefited from the Rams' attacking defense, which dominated most of the game, outshooting Hialeah American 16-3. Lake Mary improved to 26-6-1 while American ends its season at 20-5-1.
Lake Mary is in the state finals for the first time since 1999.
DOUGLAS 2, SARASOTA 1: Sophomore Nikita Waller scored twice for Parkland Douglas (27-1-2), which enters today's 5 p.m. championship game with a 14-game unbeaten streak.
LAKE GIBSON 2, BARTRAM TRAIL 0: Playing down a man for much of the game, St. Augustine Bartram Trail (13-5-4) wore down late in the second half, giving up two goals to Lake Gibson's high-scoring Billy Judino.
Both teams were playing in their first-ever state semifinal.
The Braves (23-3-0) rained down 18 shots on the Bears' goal, but goalie Nick Ortiz made 11 stops.
In the 70th minute, Judino got free on the right side of the box and nailed it into the left corner for his 34th goal of the season. Six minutes later, Judino added No. 35 as he beat a defender and dribbled around Ortiz for the tap-in.
Lake Gibson coach Bon DeLong believes his team has paid its dues. Now in his ninth year, DeLong has compiled a 116-55-23 record, but many of his team's seasons have ended with losses to Jesuit. After the Braves defeated Jesuit on penalty kicks in last week's regional final, it left the door wide open in Class 2A.
JUPITER 1, BISHOP KENNY 0: Jupiter's Christian Cates scored the game's only goal in the 75th minute, and Warrior goalie Keith Chandler had nine saves to preserve the win over Jacksonville Bishop Kenny (16-7-3).
The Warriors (17-4-2) lost 5-0 to Jesuit in the 2000 state semifinals.
Jupiter coach Chris Rue said the sloppy field conditions Friday were a detriment: "I think it distracts from our style of play, which is to keep the ball on ground and knock it around."
GULF BREEZE 3, SUNCOAST 1: Gulf Breeze will play for its third consecutive girls title tonight at 5 after Shannon Wing notched a pair of goals and assisted on a third in a victory over Riviera Beach Suncoast, which was appearing in its first state semifinal.
After losing last year's Class 2A Player of the Year Annie Adams and her 51 goals to a knee injury, the Dolphins (25-1-2) were looking for a new scorer. They found it in Wing (55 goals, 33 assists).
Meanwhile, Adams returned from ACL surgery in September to make her second appearance of the season against Suncoast, giving her team a moral boost.
Dolphins coach Mike Laglow said they'll need it against St. Augustine Nease and its high-powered offense, a 4-1 winner over Lakewood.
"I've sort of been following (Nease) all year, thinking we could end up meeting them," Laglow said. "They're a hungry team with an attacking mind-set. ... it's going to be up to our defense to try to stop them."