TAMPA - The buzz phrase when talking about Berkeley Prep this season is "what a special group of players they are."
Lately, it seems the Buccaneer players are doing their best to live up to that phrase. At least in the world of Berkeley soccer.
They have drawn comparisons to the Buccaneer teams of the early 1990s, which won three consecutive state titles. Their only loss came to Bloomingdale, which is ranked No. 2 in the nation. Junior Tyler Davis went so far as to break Alen Kozic's single-season goal record. Wednesday, they took it to another level.
Parker Melech started the scoring. Davis added to his school record, and Scott Strickland - another junior - crept closer to his teammate with four goals as Berkeley beat Jesuit 6-0. It is believed to be the Bucs' first victory over Jesuit since 1995.
More important, it reaffirms the Bucs are, indeed, a special group of players, their coach said.
"This is unbelievable. I'm so happy for these guys," said Refik Kozic, who filled in for the sick Dave Zimmerman. "This season, we expect to play well even with teams in larger classifications, but we don't expect performances like this against teams like this."
Berkeley (19-1-1) didn't get many chances to score but took full advantage of those that present themselves. The Bucs managed 10 shots on goal, converting 60 percent.
The Bucs spent the remainder of the game baffling the Tigers (14-3-4) with a strong defensive effort led by Andrew McAdams who, among other things, stopped a penalty kick seconds before the half with Berkeley leading 2-0.
"That was kind of the turning point," Kozic said. "The game could have easily gone the other way."
Jesuit coach Bob Bauman said he disagreed.
"They just put away everything," Bauman said. "We outshot them, and they won the game. We just didn't finish."
