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Girls soccer

By JOHNC. COTEY
Published December 7, 2006

This is the 20th season of girls high school soccer in Pasco County. Here's a look back at that first season:

The Rivalry

Girls soccer started out with a bang - Melissa Wells now Welch vs. Honey Marsh.

For four seasons, their showdowns were considered high drama. When it comes to girls soccer, there has never been a better rivalry.

"Melissa and Honey just excelled over all of the other players," said Kay Wells, Melissa's mother. "It was always a big deal when they played. The newspapers always made a big deal out of it."

Marsh's father, Tom, who was both girls' first coach when they started playing at age 5, said because they played as teammates in club and middle school and shared a prowess for scoring, they always drew comparisons.

But the truth, he said, was they were anything but rivals.

"They were friends," Tom Marsh said. "Neither one of them considered the other a rival, but everyone else did."

Wells usually got the best of her buddy in high school, scoring twice in the first-ever game in county history as the Rams beat Marsh's Cobras.

For four years, they battled for the county scoring title, Wells winning three times and Marsh once.

Until Stacy Bishop came along and scored 192 career goals, they were 1-2 all-time.

By the years

Melissa Wells 31-44-37-63=175

Honey Marsh 37-42-21-55=155

The Real Rivalry

According to Wells, the real rivalry was between Wells/Marsh and Gulf's Ann Marie Rossi.

"Everybody put us down as a rivalry ...but we were good friends. I think the rivalry was definitely more with Ann Marie," Wells said.

"I'd have to agree with that," said Rossi, now an investigator in St. Petersburg who still plays in an adult soccer league. "All I wanted to do was beat Melissa."

Rossi scored 14 goals that first season, and the Bucs gave Ridgewood their toughest games (losing twice and tying once). In 1988-89 Rossi gave Wells and Marsh a run for the scoring title. She finished with 40 goals; Marsh had 42 and Wells led the way with 44.

The record

The three-way scoring competition did have its ugly moments. In 1988-89, Rossi vowed to break Wells' conference record of nine goals in a game, set against Pasco. So she scored 10. Against Pasco.

Marsh matched that mark later in the season against the Pirates.

And in 1991, Wells shattered the record with 14 goals, a national record that likely will stand forever due to mercy rules that weren't in effect then.

"It's embarrassing now," said Rossi of the competition.

"I feel guilty now," Wells said. "Looking back, I don't even like telling people about it. At the time, Honey had just scored like 10 against (Pasco), and I said I'm going to beat that record. I had no idea it was a national record."

Oops

Ridgewood was unbeatable on the field the first two seasons. Off it, it suffered a few losses. Five, to be exact. That's how many games the Rams had to forfeit when it was determined Wells and another teammate lived outside the Ridgewood zone. Everything was cleared up (clerical error), but the losses stood, costing Ridgewood the GCC title, which went to Hudson.

In the beginning

Anyone remember these names from that first season: Pasco's Stefanie Burlingame? Gulf's Teresa Mineo? Land O'Lakes' Tracey Saunders or Liz Kump? Ridgewood's Susan Smith, Maureen McLoughlin or Stacie Moran? Hudson's Patricia Marotta?

Along with Marsh, Wells and Rossi, they made up the first all-county team.

Leaving Your Mark

While Wells went to Radford University in Virginia and Rossi played soccer for Mount Ida (Ma.) College and Webber College, Marsh made the biggest collegiate mark at Arkansas.

In 1993, she was named the SEC women's soccer athlete of the year following a junior season in which she scored 13 goals.

She is second all time in games started (76), third in shots on goal (133), ninth in goals (17), fourth in assists (16) and sixth in points (54).

Marsh went on to coach at Minnesota and recently was an assistant coach at Montana, where she currently resides.

The Greatest Moment

Of the six schools that started soccer that first season -- Gulf, Hudson, Pasco, Land O'Lakes, Ridgewood and Zephyrhills - only the Gators have developed into a statewide power.

In 2003, they captured a state championship. In 2004, they lost in the state semifinals. They have produced standouts like Pam Byrne and Bishop.

King is the constant, having produced teams that have made 12 playoff appearances and won 16 postseason games, more than the rest of the county combined.

John C. Cotey can be reached at 727-869-6261 or cotey@sptimes.com

[Last modified December 7, 2006, 07:15:10]