INVERNESS - By game's end, each side had players hunched over out of breath, with pronounced limps and twisted ankles. It was a cold, windy night, perfect for hot chocolate, miserable for soccer.
Citrus had enough steam left for a loud postgame hooray. It was certainly earned after a hard-fought, 1-0 win over Springstead on Wednesday night.
The Hurricanes came out with a little more energy, got a goal 13 minutes in and managed to hold off the Eagles the rest of the way in a game not likely to land on the season-ending highlight reel. But it could turn out to be the turning-point game.
"The girls are coming together," Citrus coach Tracy Buettner said. "We didn't play our best game, but we did what we needed to do to win."
Citrus (5-3-2 overall and in Class 4A, District 9; 5-3 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) got its goal from Jennifer Floyd, who beat Whitney Nissen on the left side.
"It was just a breakaway that went through some defenders, and I controlled it, dribbled it and shot it," Floyd said.
At that point Springstead had not gotten into the flow. By the end of the first half and for most of the second, the Eagles dominated but could not get anything past Hurricanes keeper Ashley Christensen.
For the Eagles (8-2-2, 7-2-2, 4-1-1), the loss snapped a seven-game unbeaten streak. Springstead avenged a Nov.17 loss to Clermont East Ridge on Monday, but it could not go on the road and beat the same Citrus team it had handled 3-1 last month.
"We had a couple of girls that were hurt, so we had to put some girls in who hadn't had as much playing time," Eagles assistant coach Mike Duke said. "Citrus was the better team tonight."
