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Gators make most of invitation

By Steve Lee
Published December 27, 2006

LAND O'LAKES - Realizing that Land O'Lakes' roster would be decimated by the 2006 graduation, Tampa Jesuit coach Bob Bauman was reluctant to ask Mark Pearson about returning to the Admiral Invitational.

The Land O'Lakes coach, however, knew he had a handful of underclassmen with club experience to replace 10 seniors, eight of whom started. He told Bauman to hold a spot in the 32-team tournament played last week at Ed Radice Sports Complex in Tampa.

The Gators' outcome was better than Pearson expected. They were runnerups in the elite division, easily topping last season's seventh-place finish.

"Psychologically, we feel like we can play with anybody this year," Pearson said. "We're playing better now than at this point last year. I think the chemistry's a little better with this group. I think the No. 1 factor is we're so young. We're very hungry."

Two of those young players, sophomores Alex Spock, a goalkeeper, and midfielder Dominic Cutrofello, made the all-tournament team.

Land O'Lakes 16-2-1 went 3-1-1 in the tournament, losing 1-0 in the final to Merritt Island. The Gators defeated Gaither 2-1 in a semifinal and clinched the top seed in their four-team pool with a 3-2 win over Jensen Beach, the defending Class 4A champion that entered that contest 21-0-1.

"We went at them with everything we had," Pearson said. "We never showed that we were worried or scared about playing a state champ."

Senior forward Louis Falcon, the Gators' scoring leader with 19 goals, scored against Jensen Beach and Gaither. After giving Land O'Lakes a 1-0 lead against Gaither, Falcon was issued a double-yellow card and missed the second half. The winner came when freshman Frankie Villar put back a rebound after Felix Soto hit the right post.

ROAD TRIP: The Land O'Lakes girls also played last week, going 1-2 in the Bobcat Invitational in Gainesville. The Gators' lone victory came in the first game, 2-1 (4-1 on penalty kicks) against tournament champion Flagler Palm Coast. The Gators (9-7-1) also lost a game on penalty kicks, 2-1 (4-3) to Ocala Forest. In between was a 3-0 loss to host Gainesville Bucholz.

Savannah Gorman had two goals in regulation and another on a PK in the first game. Also converting PKs in Land O'Lakes' win were Amanda Goble, Sammie Koen and Dania Casellas.

RAMS' SIXTH: For the sixth straight season, coach Ed McComiskey has organized the Ridgewood Rams Winter tournament. Like all teams that play during the winter break, the host team (1-12-1) aims to use the tournament as a springboard for improving in the second half of the season.

"The best way to get better is to play games and you've got to do something over the break," McComiskey said.

Steve Lee can be reached at lee@sptimes.com or (352) 521-6517.

[Last modified December 27, 2006, 06:57:52]