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League race ends in draw

A tie at 2 between Land O'Lakes and Hudson leaves them deadlocked as SAC co-champions at 9-2-1.

By STEVE LEE
Published January 30, 2005

LAND O'LAKES - Mitchell had last season's Sunshine Athletic Conference crown clinched nearly a month before the district tournaments.

This season the title was not decided until Wednesday, five days before districts.

Those teams entered their final conference matchup at Gator Stadium with identical 9-2 conference marks. A 2-2 tie left Hudson and Land O'Lakes as co-champions.

"It just shows you what kind of program we have at the school," Hudson coach Ron Ladimir said, noting that the Cobras won the 2002-03 SAC title outright.

Before the game, Land O'Lakes coach Mark Pearson said, "You can't take anyone lightly."

Despite a scoreless first half, "the game was go-go-go from the outset," Ladimir said.

Land O'Lakes, which also beat Hudson 2-0 this season, took a 2-0 lead on Ryan Martin's 11th and 12th goals. Hudson got goals from Jeremy Enix, his team-leading 22nd, and Matt Edelman (14th) for the tie.

Hudson and Land O'Lakes won't meet in this week's district tourneys since they do not compete in the same classification. The Cobras host 4A-10 and the Gators play in the 5A-5 tourney at River Ridge.

Ladimir compared winning conference and district titles, reasoning that the former is a test of endurance while the latter is a case of peaking at the right time.

"Districts, all you need is one good run," Ladimir said. "With conference, there's more consistency throughout the year."

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