HUDSON - Lecanto sought redemption in Thursday night's Class 4A region quarterfinal at Hudson. The Panthers threw in a little revenge, too.
Lecanto defeated Hudson 5-2 at Cobra Stadium, avenging last season's playoff loss to the Cobras and advancing to their first region semifinal in eight seasons.
"We're very happy," Lecanto coach Doug Warren said. "We got to beat Hudson, who knocked us out last year, so it was nice to redeem ourselves, you could say. It was nice to put up a good score."
The Panthers (22-1-1) put up three good scores, overwhelming the Cobras (14-8-3), who twice battled back to tie it, in the last 19 minutes.
Chris Hudak made it 1-0 for Lecanto, and Tim Cook tied it for Hudson on a header off a David Connors corner kick. Matt Thomasunis struck in the final minute of the first half to make it 2-1 Panthers. In the second half, the Cobras' Jeremy Enix headed the ball toward the Lecanto net, and Matt Edelman won a race to kick it in, tying it at 2.
Then Lecanto took over. Kyle Davis scored on a breakaway down the middle in the 61st minute to make it 3-2. Hudak beat three defenders to make it 4-2. Faubricio Leiva scored the Panthers' fifth goal.
"It just wasn't our night," Hudson coach Ron Ladimir said. "The kids worked hard. We were just a step behind them."
