Always full speed ahead

HILLSBOROUGH PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Marissa Kazbour's take-no-prisoners style of play made Bloomingdale one of state's best teams.

By ROD GIPSON
Published March 10, 2006

TAMPA - Marissa Kazbour knows only one speed on the soccer field.

A Bloomingdale standout, Kazbour's approach to her game is simple: attack, attack, attack. Not that anyone is complaining. The junior midfielder's go-go style resulted in a dominant season and helped Bloomingdale earn district and region championships and reach the Class 5A state finals.

"She plays the whole game, she's always moving forward and she's opportunistic in front of the goal," longtime Bloomingdale coach Sue Peet said. "When you have a player of her ability with the passion she has for the game, it's contagious for the whole team."

And a detriment for opponents.

Kazbour's season didn't begin on the best note as she battled a nagging hamstring injury. She admitted she wasn't at full strength until December, but still managed 20 goals and six assists for the 24-2-1 Bulls.

"I think I came back from the injuries and played well," said Kazbour, named Bloomingdale's captain before the season. "I have pretty high standards for myself and I think I played up to them."

With her up-tempo style of quarterbacking inspiring the entire Bloomingdale offense, the Bulls routinely found themselves on the positive side of blowouts. Kazbour's regular-season pinnacle may have come against Durant, where she scored three goals and posted an assist in a 5-0 victory.

"She was just on fire in that game," Peet said. "I'm not sure what it was but she just took over that game."

A soccer player since age 9, Kazbour said an early experience on defense created her offensive mind-set. A soccer camp coach positioned her on defense, she hated it and realized she wanted to be near the ball - as much as possible.

"Coming out of the midfielder position, your job is to move the ball forward. I pass well and I love giving our forwards opportunities with the ball," Kazbour said. "Any time we get the ball forward, I want to be there, passing the ball or keeping the ball."

And Kazbour did plenty of both during the Bulls' playoff run.

Bloomingdale cruised to wins in its first three region matches, outscoring opponents 8-0, and only being challenged in a 1-0 overtime win against new neighborhood rival Newsome. The state semifinal saw Kazbour take matters into her own hands.

Trailing 1-0 in the second half against Fleming Island, Kazbour nailed a tying goal that changed the Bulls' fortunes. Kazbour added a goal and an assist as Bloomingdale went on to a 4-1 victory and advanced to its first state final since 2001.

Despite the 2-0 loss to Palm Harbor University, Peet credits Kazbour with helping lead a team that could have been fractured chemistry-wise with the influx of nine freshmen.

"She really impressed me as our captain," Peet said. "She really stepped up and made everyone feel okay. She didn't show disappointment (after losing in the finals) and she let her teammates know how proud she was of them."

Kazbour, a U.S. national team invitee, agreed she didn't let her disappointment show.

"It wasn't too disappointing," she said. "Getting as far as we did was awesome and it sets us up pretty well for next year. A lot of teams will be coming for us so we still have work to do."

[Last modified March 10, 2006, 01:59:17]