Soccer: Pirates' Montelongo sets scoring record

By ANDY VILLAMARZO, Times Correspondent
Published December 20, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - It was fitting for Pasco's Jose Montelongo to break the Pasco County scoring record at the very school where it was set. Montelongo scored three goals Wednesday against Novica Maric's old school, Gulf, and now stands alone in the record books with his unofficial 128 goals, one more than Maric.

The record looked like it would have to wait another night to be broken, but five minutes into the second half Montelongo scored on a stiff Gulf defense.

"They had me marked pretty well tonight," Montelongo said. "I feel like it was just another game after setting the record."

Gulf kept Montelongo in check until the last 15 minutes, when he put two more goals into the back of the net to set the record in Pasco's 4-1 victory. The record-setting goal sparked high fives and congratulations from Montelongo's teammates and coaches.

Coach Barry Grayling exchanged two brand-new soccer balls for the record-setting ball.

"I thought exchanging something for the ball would be something good to do," Grayling said.

Land O'Lakes 8, Mitchell 0

NEW PORT RICHEY - For 12 minutes, it looked like the titanic clash it was billed to be.

Two minutes later, everything changed.

Land O'Lakes scored two goals 62 seconds apart and seven in the last 28 minutes of the first half as the Gators rolled to a victory that ended via mercy rule midway through the second half.

"We've been winning most of our games," said junior sweeper John Gorman, part of a defense that allowed just five shots, "but we finally came together as a team."

Junior midfielder Dominic Cutrofello scored three goals, the first on a header to give the Gators a 2-0 lead with 26:59 remaining in the first half. The goal came just over a minute after Felix Soto had broken a scoreless tie with a header off a corner kick from Sebastian Garcia.

Up to that point, Mitchell (11-5-2) had played Land O'Lakes even. The Mustangs, fresh off a 3-3 tie against Pasco, entered the match hoping to take a big step toward a conference title with an upset of the Gators (12-1-1).

But Mitchell never recovered, allowing seven goals in the final 27 minutes of the first half.

"The first 10 minutes we played well," Mitchell coach Oscar Ubillus said. "But two goals in a span of a minute, that pretty much - although it shouldn't have - killed us."

Land O'Lakes got contributions from a number of players, including freshman forward Justin Lyles, whose left-footed goal with 19:35 remaining in the first half gave the Gators a 3-0 lead. Elliot Leniton scored two goals, the second of which ended the game 17 minutes into the second half.

Gators coach Mark Pearson, whose team improved to 12-1-1, said the key to the offensive explosion was a change in an unidentified switch in formation.

"I'm not going to tell you guys what it is," he said, "but it definitely worked."

David Murphy, Times staff writer

[Last modified December 20, 2007, 00:39:51]