Pinellas: Girls soccer roundup

By BRYAN BURNS
Published December 13, 2007

SEMINOLE - In the first half of Clearwater's match against Tarpon Springs in the semifinals of the Osceola Lady Warrior Holiday Tournament, the Tornadoes held the ball longer and created better scoring opportunities.

The only thing Clearwater didn't have after the first half Wednesday was the lead.

After being held without a shot for the first 34 minutes, Tarpon Springs broke through just before the half when Nia Hankenhof sent a perfect cross into the box that Jenna Tersteegen one-timed into the net with her right foot. From that point, it was all Tarpon Springs as the Spongers scored twice more in the second half to win 3-0 and advance to Friday's final against Osceola.

"They were playing a different style of ball in the first half, they were making us play with them with the long ball stuff and running through," Tarpon Springs coach John Freiermuth said. "As soon as we settled down and knocked it around, you could see a change in the whole tempo of the game."

Indeed, once Tarpon Springs (5-4-2) went ahead by a score, the deflated Tornadoes were unable to muster much of anything the rest of the game. After registering three shots in the first half, Clearwater (4-6-1) was unable to put any pressure on Tarpon Springs goalkeeper Jess Amlaw and didn't have a shot on goal the entire second half.

"I thought we played harder in the first half, but once we gave up a goal, we had to switch things up a bit and push up some people forward," Clearwater coach Robert Lucio said. "That left some open space but there was nothing we could do. A 1-0 loss is still a 1-0 loss."

That open space allowed Tarpon Springs numerous scoring opportunities in the second half. The Spongers had five shots on goal after halftime and started to pull away with 30 minutes remaining when Tersteegen scored her second goal.

Jaimie Odorisio clinched the win for Tarpon Springs with a goal in the game's final 15 minutes.

Tarpon Springs, which has finished second the last two years in this tournament, will play Osceola at 8 p.m. for the championship.

"This game is important for us because we've come so close the last couple of years but lost in the finals," Tersteegen said. "I just want us to win it for once."

Osceola 7, Boca Ciega 1

Tournament host Osceola scored three first-half goals and didn't allow a shot until after halftime to cruise past Boca Ciega and advance to Friday's championship game against Tarpon Springs.

Mary Ann Krlin scored Osceola's first two goals and Adelyne Brainard added a third goal just before the half to give the Warriors an insurmountable halftime lead.

"I thought today we did a great job of moving the ball around, passing the ball back and opening up the field," Osceola coach Tom Davis said. "As a team we worked very well. I think we still need to work on our shots. We had a lot of shots that were off."

Directly after halftime, Boca Ciega (2-6-2) briefly got back in the game when Kim Brainard drilled a free kick over goalkeeper Jami Burden and just under the crossbar from 20 yards to make the score 3-1. The goal was Boca Ciega's first shot of the night and one of only two total shots.

Osceola (7-4) wasted no time in answering, scoring a few minutes later on Kristi Kauzlarich's rebound goal. Later in the second half, Osceola's Brainard scored her second goal of the night, and the Warriors also got goals from Courtney Clark and Katie Walker. The Warriors had 30 total shots on goal.

Hurricane Watch Soccer Tournament at Palm Harbor University

East Lake 5, Lakewood 0

Alicia Nalley and Tessa McGregor each had two goals in East Lake's victory.

Coupled with its 2-0 victory over Countryside on Monday, East Lake (10-1) finishes in first place in the six-team tournament's second group and advances to Friday's championship game against host Palm Harbor.

"We played real well tonight and moved the ball around effectively," East Lake coach Raleigh Daves said.

Nalley scored her first goal 15 minutes into the match, and from there the rout was on. Jenna Payne also added a goal in the first half for East Lake, which outshot Lakewood (4-6-1) 20-3.

Palm Harbor University 1, Seminole 1

Palm Harbor University and Seminole played to a draw in the other semifinal.

Both teams finished atop the standings of group one with four points each; however Palm Harbor advances to Friday's championship round by virtue of its 4-0 victory Monday over St. Petersburg. Seminole defeated St. Petersburg on Tuesday but only by a 2-0 count, giving Palm Harbor the tiebreaker edge in goals.

Palm Harbor (8-1-1) took a 1-0 lead at the break thanks to Catherine Brinkman's goal, her team-leading 13th of the season. Sierra Lelii tied it up for Seminole (10-0-1) in the second half with her 10th goal of the year.

Palm Harbor held a 12-4 advantage over Seminole in total shots.

[Last modified December 13, 2007, 00:24:05]