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Knights peaking at right time

Though only at .500, River Ridge comes into the District 5 tournament off of a 7-1 victory on Wednesday.

By STEVE LEE
Published January 30, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - River Ridge has hovered around the .500 mark all season with coach Steve Doyle repeating how his team could be better if only it had one good showing to build on.

That building block came Wednesday with the Royal Knights (7-7-5) routing Zephyrhills 7-1 for their most lopsided victory of the season.

"It puts us in the right frame of mind," Doyle said. "We're riding high right now."

The rout could not have come at a better time for River Ridge, which hosts the Class 5A, District 5 tournament this week (see box below). The Knights are seeded third in a four-team district behind county rivals Mitchell and Land O'Lakes, and ahead of Clermont East Ridge.

With two playoff berths at stake, the winner of Tuesday's semifinal between River Ridge and Land O'Lakes is assured of a spot in the region quarterfinals.

River Ridge played Land O'Lakes to a scoreless standoff the first time before the Gators won the rematch 5-1.

"I hope the bad games (in which) we haven't played up to par are out of the way," Doyle said. "Come playoff time your record's out the window. It's a one-game elimination."

The Knights continue to struggle offensively; they have no scorers among the county's top 15 for the second straight season.

The team's strength lies in the back with junior defender Sean Doyle, the coach's son, and freshman goalkeeper Eric Karcinski.

Sean Doyle helped Hillsborough United's Under-17 elite team win a division title in the Tampa Bay Sun Bowl during the winter break.

And Karcinski's emergence (1.92 goals-against average, four shutouts) has freed up the versatile Cameron Baker, last season's starting keeper, to play at midfield.

"He plays wherever he's needed and gives me 100 percent," coach Doyle said of Baker.

The Knights lack a standout finisher and depth up front. John Mann, Nick Morolla and Shawn Grimes shared the team lead for goals at four apiece until the Zephyrhills rout.

Sean Doyle, who had a team-leading 10 goals last season, scored a single-game high five against Zephyrhills to take the team lead with eight.

Doyle also had a goal in River Ridge's most notable triumph this season, 2-0 over Hudson - a team with the county's best record (17-4-1) and one which is ranked fourth in 4A.

"We don't have a go-to scorer," Doyle said. "We don't have a Novica (Maric, Gulf's scoring leader who last season had 53 goals). We have to divide the scoring among them."

Defeating Hudson, coach Doyle said, took his team's best effort. It will take a similar amount of energy and cohesiveness for the Knights to continue playing beyond districts.

"We beat Hudson," the coach said. "If we go through it's going to be because everybody played a great game."

[Last modified January 30, 2005, 00:10:19]