The Hurricanes take the Class 5A, District 9 title with their 16th win of the season, a 5-0 decision over Clearwater.
By LAURA LEE
Published February 7, 2004
PALM HARBOR - Palm Harbor University proved why it's almost perfect at home, shutting down and shutting out Clearwater in Friday's district final, 5-0.
Palm Harbor (16-4-3) had its way with the Tornadoes, taking the Class 5A District 9 title.
"I thought it'd be a lot closer," Palm Harbor's Shane Burroughs said. "It showed we had heart and came out fired."
The win guaranteed Palm Harbor home field for the first two games of the region tournament - something that largely favors the Hurricanes. The team's one flaw is a 1-0 loss to Seminole a few weeks ago. The Hurricanes may get a chance to avenge that game if they can take care of St. Petersburg in Thursday's region quarterfinal.
Friday, Palm Harbor had a little trouble settling down in the first half, but after getting a couple of quick goals midway through, the team dominated for the rest of the game.
"We got done what we needed to do, which was get on top of them early," Palm Harbor coach Juan Pablo Pinzon said.
Burroughs scored the Hurricanes' first goal in the 14th minute. Clearwater goalkeeper Ryan Gregg tried possess a Palm Harbor throw-in by falling on it with his body, but Burroughs beat Gregg to the ball and he tapped it in for the score. Less than two minutes later, Burroughs volleyed a corner kick from Brandon Whitsett into the net. The Hurricanes held a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Clearwater (10-3-2) struggled on defense. The Tornadoes couldn't keep Palm Harbor out of their territory - turning the box in front of Clearwater's goal looked into a pinball game. The Tornadoes had some solid opportunities to score, but unlike the Hurricanes, who were able to play rebounds and deflections, Clearwater rarely had second chances on goal.
Clearwater will travel to Seminole to play the defending state champs Thursday. If both Seminole and Palm Harbor win their games, the teams will meet for a final time in the region semifinals.
5A-10: Ugly or not, Seminole makes it four titles in a row
GULFPORT - "Ugly, huh?"
That's what coach Rick Masi asked after Seminole won its fourth straight district championship with a 2-0 victory over St. Petersburg.
In an aggressive game marred by five yellow cards, Seminole controlled much of the game, and spent the majority near the Green Devils' goal. St. Petersburg's defense, which only gave up one goal in two district tournament games, held strong for the first half.
Seminole, the No. 1 seed in the 5A-10 tournament, failed to score, and went into halftime tied 0-0.
Five minutes into the second half, St. Petersburg's Charlie Smith went down with a leg injury, halting the game for more than 15 minutes.
Seminole (25-4) came back from the stoppage where it had left off, and halfway through the quarter, Stephen Rudenis found Richard Legg in front of the box. Legg's goal put Seminole up 1-0.
The defense of the Green Devils (11-5-4) kept the game close, trying to force a consecutive overtime game for the Warhawks. St. Petersburg's Alexander Bowers had five big blocks keeping the game within a goal.
However, late in the game, Seminole's Morgan Riley was on a breakaway with only Bowers in his way. Riley was tripped from behind in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. Riley's kick to the left, got past Bowers, giving Seminole a security goal.
"Both teams are going, but I don't want to see St. Pete again ever," Masi said after having to play two tough games in a week. "We wanna get back (to the state final four). It's a hard thing to do. If the guys give their best effort, we will get back there."
- CHARLES CARDWELL
4A-13: Schreck makes a big difference in Osceola's victory
PALMETTO - Osceola coach Tim Rachford wanted an asterisk by the one-goal loss his team suffered last month against district nemesis Palmetto, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A.
In that contest, the Warriors were without Thomas Schreck, sidelined three months with a broken foot.
Schreck returned for Friday's Class 4A, District 13 final and made quite an impact.
With 23 minutes remaining, Schreck took a free kick and hit a laser 25 yards away from the goal. The shot sailed just past the outstretched arms of the Tigers' keeper and into the upper left-hand corner of the net.
It was the game's lone goal as the Warriors avenged two previous losses to Palmetto, 1-0.
Osceola (11-2-3) will host Lehigh in the region quarterfinals on Thursday.
"Thomas just ripped the ball to score," Rachford said. "It was one of the greatest kicks I've ever seen."
Since coming back from an injury, Schreck has been a driving force, scoring nine goals in five games.
The Warriors' defense made the goal stand as Rachford made some adjustments to help neutralize the Tigers' attack. The strategy worked as Palmetto (19-2-2) could never break through, despite outshooting Osceola 10-6.
"We were able to batten down the hatches in the second half," Rachford said. "This is becoming a good rivalry and we could probably see each in the region final. It's sort of like what we had going with Jesuit a few years ago."
