Terriers thwarted

Defense is the key for East Lake, which tops Hillsborough 2-1.

By ROD GIPSON
Published January 27, 2006

TAMPA - Hillsborough spent this season being a little bit quicker than most of its opponents. The Terriers usually came up with the better pass, the better shot and, often, more goals.

All of that ended Thursday night in the opening round of region playoffs. East Lake used a relentless offensive attack and team speed to jump out to two quick scores, then holing off Hillsborough in the second half to post a 2-1 victory.

East Lake (15-5) advances to face Lakewood Ranch/Lakewood in the semifinals while Hillsborough's season ends at 11-4-2.

"They're (East Lake) a very solid team," Hillsborough coach Ron Fedeles said. "They were fast at the top, had speed in the middle and that's what really gave us problems."

East Lake's attacking style controlled the ball most of the first half, converting with 19 minutes on the clock when freshman Leah Fisher dribbled up the right side of the box in traffic and got a shot past Hillsborough keeper Ali Tomlin.

Five minutes later, the Eagles scored when Alicia Nalley put a perfect crossing pass into the middle of field where Tessa MacGregor hit a shot past Tomlin. With starting keeper Alaina Barrera out of the lineup, Tomlin switched from her usual midfielder spot. She stopped seven shots.

On the verge of suffering a shutout on their home field, Hillsborough grabbed some momentum when East Lake's Tara Petzoldt was yellow-carded for tackling Sara Belsole inside the box. Belsole put the resulting penalty kick into the left side of the net with 9:30 left, cutting the score in half and energizing the Terriers bench.

But any hopes of a comeback were thwarted by the Eagles defense, which shut down the Terriers from that point.

"We realized pretty early we could move the ball," said East Lake coach Raleigh Davis, whose team outshot Hillsborough 12-2.

PALM HARBOR - The Palm Harbor University offense did double duty in Thursday's 6-0 playoff victory over Plant.

Not only did the Hurricanes collect 35 shots on goal, but the offense acted like a defense in holding the opposition to only two shots. Palm Harbor U. had the ball in its offensive zone almost 90 percent of the game. The Panthers didn't get many offensive opportunities.

"We work on it in practice a lot," Hurricanes' coach John Planamenta said. "We do a lot of possession (drills) in training. We work on certain patterns, which they did well. They played a good game - exactly what we were hoping for."

Midfielder Kelly Brinkman had the task of attacking the Plant goal and keeping the ball in PHU's offensive zone. She scored twice and was a big reason the Panthers' offense never got started.

Annie Stalzer also had two goals. She led the team with 11 shots on net. Jayne Wabeke and Shannon Healy also scored. Brinkman, Wabeke and Courtney Whidden all had five shots. Overall, eight players came close to a goal.

Plant had one shot on net in the first half when Alexi Rakestraw attempted a 40-yarder, which was easily stopped by goalie Monica Lee. Rakestraw had a better shot in the second half on a free kick, which was also saved by Lee. Panthers goalie Chelsea Hearne finished with 16 saves.

- DOUG KATES, Times correspondent

[Last modified January 27, 2006, 01:22:12]