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Pirates hitting n all cylinders

By STEVE LEE
Published December 14, 2005

Losing to lowly Hudson is not something the Pasco boys soccer team is proud of.

Defeating Land O'Lakes, the county's only team to play in a region final last season, however, is something to write home about.

"Huge," is how Pasco senior sweeper Antonio Corona labeled Thursday's 3-1 win at Gator Stadium. Pasco, which lost 4-3 to Hudson (1-10-1) two weeks ago, improved to 9-1 with three consecutive wins last week. The Pirates also defeated Nature Coast 4-0 and Springstead 7-2.

Pasco spotted Land O'Lakes a goal (by Louis Falcon) before rallying on goals from Roberto Cervantes, Jose Montelongo and Alex Hollander.

"Last year we played them tough, too," Corona said, alluding to a pair of one-goal losses to Land O'Lakes. "... We knew if we came out and tried harder we could take it to them."

Montelongo, last season's team scoring leader with 19 goals and 52 points, had six goals last week, including a hat trick against Springstead. The sophomore forward leads the Pirates with 15 goals and 39 points.

Cervantes, a junior midfielder who had 19 goals as a freshman and slumped to six last season, has regained his scoring touch with 11 goals and 29 points. Senior forward Garibaldi Alejandre, who had 12 goals last season, is the only other Pirate in double figures with five goals and 11 points.

The defense, which includes Jose Corona, Antonio's cousin, and Eric Manning playing in front of third-year goalkeeper Luis Hernandez, has been steady. That balance has coach Barry Grayling and the players feeling the Pirates can top last year's playoff run that ended in the region semifinals.

"We don't fight as much," Antonio Corona said, referring to last year's in-house squabbles. "We get along as a team. Not that there's not individuality, but there's more of a team (concept). Once you get up to those big dogs (playoff-winning caliber teams) you can't have one individual doing all the work. Everybody's got to help."

RARE LOSS: Land O'Lakes' loss to Pasco last week was just its second this season. The Gators (11-2-1) also lost to Countryside 2-1 in overtime of the Clearwater Thanksgiving Tournament.

Land O'Lakes bounced back from the loss to the Pirates by defeating Central 4-0 on Friday and Gulf 3-1 on Monday.

Louis Falcon and Josh Chan have combined for six goals and one assist in the past three games. Each scored twice against Central, Chan assisted on Falcon's goal against Pasco, and Chan scored in the Gulf game. Falcon is Land O'Lakes' scoring leader with eight goals and 26 points; Chan is third with seven goals and 18 points.

NEW TEAM ON ROLL: Bishop McLaughlin's first-year boys team, which has no senior class, won its third straight game Saturday, 4-3 over Hernando Christian.

James McCarragher, the Hurricanes' scoring leader with 11 goals and 28 points, netted a hat trick in that game and Ted Kasprow added a goal. Goalkeeper Ron Posey made 10 saves.

[Last modified December 14, 2005, 00:15:15]