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Warhawks want to write different ending

By RODNEY PAGE

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 28, 2001

If Seminole coach Steve Kuplicki ever doubted his team's dedication, it was erased the morning he woke up and looked out his front door. During the preseason, some of his players took the time to spell out the team's goal for the 2000-01 season.

On his driveway. In shaving cream.

"This is our Year," was spelled out on one half. "State Champs," on the other.

In what has become a Seminole tradition, the juniors and seniors gather at midnight, arm themselves with toilet paper and shaving cream, "borrow" a few orange cones and wooden barricades from construction sites and decorate the underclassmen's lawns. This season was a little different when Kuplicki's house became a target.

"(Kuplicki) keeps reminding us about that," junior Adrienne Ierna said. "That's the kind of motivation we get. He keeps telling us how we shaving-creamed his driveway."

For the past three years, Seminole has been one of the district favorites only to fall in the semifinals. Last season was especially difficult, a loss to Largo in penalty kicks. "Last year, oh man, I don't even want to talk about last year," senior forward Brandi Herrmann said. "Everybody was saying it was going to be us and Countryside in the final, and then we lost to Largo in PKs. Ever since I was a freshman, we haven't made it out of districts. We talk about that all the time. We talk about how this is the year."

If the regular season means anything, this should be the season Seminole breaks the curse. The Warhawks were 12-0 in Class 3A, District 11 and 17-4 overall.

Seminole allowed only one goal to district opponents. Herrmann leads the offense with 17 goals in 15 games. Autumn Baur has 13 goals in 18 games.

On defense, junior Brittany Herrmann junior Katie Sousa, senior Lori Harshbarger and sophomore goalkeeper Nikki Paquette have been stingy.

The highlight was a 4-0 win over Palm Harbor University, which was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation by FoxSports.com at the time.

"After we beat Palm Harbor, we started to come together," Brittney Herrmann said. "That's when we knew we could go far this year."

The season's biggest disappointment came a few games later when Seminole lost 2-0 to Countryside in the second round of the Pinellas County Athletic Conference tournament Tuesday. Brandi Herrmann had the flu and didn't play. She said she will play in Wednesday's second-round game against either Clearwater or Boca Ciega. The Warhawks have a first-round bye.

Kuplicki hopes the Countryside game is the only disappointment.

"We just weren't prepared to play (against Countryside)," Kuplicki said. "Hopefully, that's out of our system. We have a very solid defense and one of the best goalkeepers in the county. I think this is a very good team, but we've said that before."

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