St. Petersburg Catholic bottles up Jesuit before it breaks through for the winner in a 2-1 victory.
By JEREMY RASMUSSEN
Published February 7, 2004
TAMPA - St. Petersburg Catholic gave Jesuit all it could handle in the Class 3A, District 9 final Friday.
But in the end, the host Tigers notched their 19th district title in 20 seasons with a 2-1 victory.
The Barons (11-3-4) have made some good teams look bad this season with their tightly packed defense, including a 2-0 semifinal victory Wednesday over top-seeded Sarasota Cardinal Mooney.
However, they came out firing on offense and scored in the fourth minute. Matthew Skonicki blocked a clearing attempt by goalkeeper Keith Meehan and tapped in an easy goal.
The Barons didn't celebrate for long, though. A minute later, Jesuit striker Xavier Pecora crossed to Seun Bayode, who headed it in for the tie. Bayode scored twice in a 5-0 semifinal victory over Clearwater Central Catholic.
Just before halftime, Skonicki was taken down hard on the right wing by Chad Prezas and did not return. His status is unknown.
Jesuit's attack appeared bottled up as Josh Frappier dropped from the midfield to mark Pecora and stayed with him doggedly throughout the game. Barons goalie Davis Rodriguez also was stellar, turning away point-blank shots by Pecora and Chad Dalton.
"No one plays harder or smarter than (the Barons)," Jesuit coach Bob Bauman said.
"But we sorted out at halftime what we needed to do to put more sustained pressured on them in the second half."
Jesuit started playing it wider and moving the ball from one side to the other to spread out the Barons defense.
The strategy paid off in the 65th minute. Pecora took a long cross from Kevin Sierra, cut back and put it to Nicholas Plasencia for the finish.
Plasencia had entered the game moments earlier, replacing Bayode.
Barons coach Anatol Popovich said Jesuit's depth might have been the difference.
"It was a good, close game," Popovich said. "Certainly, losing (Skonicki) slowed our attack. (The Tigers) have 23 players, and they can wear you down."
Jesuit (16-3-5) hosts Frostproof on Thursday in a region quarterfinal. St. Petersburg Catholic travels to Wauchula Hardee, a 2-1 winner over Frostproof on Friday.
