RIVERVIEW - Bloomingdale defeated Sarasota River 1-0 and Durant defeated Sarasota 3-0 to earn berths in the Class 6A, District 6 final Wednesday. The teams meet at 7 p.m. Friday at Riverview for the district championship. Both also advanced to the state playoffs.
In the final minutes of the first semifinal, Bloomingdale pushed all of its players forward except the keeper.
With time running out, Marissa Kazbor blasted the ball toward the left post. The goalie bobbled the ball, and it bounced off the post to Amanda Roth, who pushed it to the back of the net for the only goal of the game.
"I didn't realize the ball was coming at me, so I had my eyes closed," Roth said. "Our whole team played a solid game and pulled out the win."
Sarasota Riverview had won both regular-season games.
Both teams' midfielders and defenders battled throughout the match, limiting shots. The Rams managed only seven shots on goal and the Bulls nine.
Bulls coach Sue Peet said she was pleasantly surprised by her team's performance.
"I really didn't expect this," she said. "They beat us twice before 3-1 there and 1-0 on our field. Durant killed us during regular season. But we are in a pretty good position right now because we have already earned our spot in the playoffs, no matter what happens in the finals.
"The pressure is off, and I think we will play well."
Durant beat Sarasota for the third time this season. The Sailors helped the Cougars with an own goal during the first half.
Durant started strong, playing most of the first 20 minutes in Sarasota's end of the field.
Alicia Tirelli scored the first goal on a pass from Gabi Rivera.
Rivera scored the third goal in the second half off a pass from Lisa Hayman.
The Cougars dominated with ball control and outshot the Sailors 12-4. Durant also hit the post three times.
"The first two times we played Sarasota, I really expected tough matches, but we beat them both times by six points," Cougar coach Dick Sheffield said. "But if we had taken them lightly, we may not have done so well.
We forced them to keep everything outside to frustrate their shots, and it worked. Our game Friday with Bloomingdale should be a good one for both teams."
- TERRY JONES
5A-7: Sickles gets revenge to reach championship
TAMPA - The two times Sickles played Wharton this season, the Gryphons felt they lost unfairly. A quick jump-start here and a break on a penalty kick there gave the Wildcats the psychological edge entering the semifinals.
When it mattered most, though, the Gryphons came through with the victory they felt they had in them all along.
Sickles (15-4-1) defeated Wharton 3-1, taking control early with a goal within five minutes by senior defender Jill Schmid. Caitlin Howard broke through center and passed across to Schmid before the Wildcats (11-7-2) could defend.
"I told the girls we had to play them very physical if we wanted to win," Sickles coach George Arroyo said. "We dominated the first two games but didn't finish. As you can see, we had three goals this time and were able to get there early."
Sickles junior forward Wendy Moenart scored the second and third goals, bringing her career total to a school-record 63. The record was 45, and Moenart still has a year to go.
In Friday's district final, the Gryphons face Gaither, which defeated Chamberlain in the later game 6-1.
Gaither freshman forward Shanna Pace scored two goals and had an assist, and Heather Dichson had a goal and an assist.
The Chiefs (7-8-1) seemed frustrated from the start when they opened the scoring at 32:39 with an own goal, assisted by Gaither's Kara Teresi. They nearly wiped out the blunder when Stephanie Key launched a goal to tie from 15 yards outside the box 30 seconds later, but the Cowboys (11-2-3) scored three more (by Dickson, Kristi Kamm and Katherine Turner) before halftime.
Pace scored the two second-half goals.
- EMILY NIPPS
4A-11: Newest schools to meet in title game
TAMPA - The momentum might be on Freedom's side when it plays Newsome for the third time on Friday, this time with the district title at stake.
Second-year Freedom dismantled Tampa Bay Tech 8-0 in a game shortened by the mercy rule in the semifinals and has homefield advantage.
Meanwhile, the Wolves (11-1-2) had numerous opportunities to put away Armwood but settled for a 1-0 victory.
The Patriots (14-3-1) peppered 34 shots on the Titans goalkeepers. Erin Wilson scored all four of her goals during the first half, but she was stoned on other occasions by Jo Smith, who saved 21 shots for TBT (6-9).
Patriots keeper Emily Simpson didn't see nearly as much action, with the Titans' only shot coming 47 minutes into the match.
Newsome almost scored in the 15th minute when Angela Murphy lofted a shot over the Armwood keeper, striking the crossbar. The rebound bounced to Miranda Morrow, who headed it over the goal.
But Danielle Rivera scored eight minutes later. With just three shots on goal, Armwood hung in but did not threaten.
"That's kind of been our story," Newsome coach Kathy Dodd said. "We dominate a lot of teams, but we can't quite finish. At least, we keep them out of our end."
The Patriots earned the district's top seed courtesy of a 1-0 victory against Newsome, the Wolves' only regular-season defeat. The teams tied in their other meeting.
- ANTHONY GAGLIANO
3A-9: Tampa Catholic falls to CCC in semifinals
CLEARWATER - On a frigid night, St. Petersburg Catholic and host Clearwater Central Catholic advanced to play in Friday's Class 3A, District 9 championship.
CCC advanced with a 6-2 thrashing of Tampa Catholic.
However, the Marauders lost leading scorer Kari Weniger to a serious knee injury late in the first half. His status is unknown.
CCC opened the scoring when Lisa Matuska poked in goal past Julia Crawford seven minutes in.
Tampa Catholic tied it five minutes later with Theresa Tozier scoring off a corner kick. CCC regained the lead for good when Taylor Jacobs scored from 10 yards in the 24th minute.
The Marauders (15-5-1) then got five consecutive goals by Matuska, Samantha Freedman, Kathleen Hunter and Alexis Bershaw.
In the first semifinal, freshman Lauren Murray's steal at midfield and goal from 20 yards during the second half propelled the Barons (9-7-4) to a 1-0 victory over Sarasota Cardinal Mooney.
Kathleen Howe was credited with the assist on the goal.
Coach D'Arcy Clarie said he was proud of his team.
"We did not start off very well," he said. "But our great goalie and great defense kept us in it."
Cardinal Mooney had numerous chances, but SPC goalkeeper Kim Winning stoned every chance, finishing with five saves. The Cougars had a goal nullified late after Gina Torchia was called offsides.
"We dodged a lot of bullets against a very good Cardinal Mooney team," Clarie said.
