Preps

Soccer: Plant City beats Alonso in shootout

By MARTIN BATER, Times correspondent
Published November 11, 2007

TAMPA - Plant City defeated Alonso 6-5 in a dramatic penalty kick shootout that followed a 3-3 tie, as the Raiders won the 2007 Wharton Invitational tournament.

In the first half, Alonso took the initiative and attacked aggressively, keeping the ball on the ground and trying to be as sharp as possible.

Plant City let Alonso control the action. The Raiders relied on its defense, counter-attacked quickly and took advantage of open spaces.

The Raiders took the lead in the 13th minute thanks to a header by forward Jonathan Dupree, who got to an errant ball just before Alonso's goalie did. Two minutes later, Dupree led a Raiders' counterattack and assisted midfielder Brian Fekete to give Plant City a 2-0 lead early in the game. Stevie Lamas then put the Raiders up 3-0.

Alonso didn't give, up though, scoring twice to make the score 3-2 midway through the second half. In the 79th minute, Ravens midfielder Juan Arbelaez scored on a 20-yard free kick that was deflected by the wall and went in.

In the penalty kick shootout with the score tied at 5, defender A.J Black was kicked the ball softly to the right to give the Raiders the championship.

"I tried not to think about anything," Black said. "The thought of missing the penalty kick did cross my mind, but then I calmed myself down and executed."

[Last modified November 11, 2007, 00:36:05]