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Second-half surge lifts Gators past Knights 2-0

By STEVE LEE

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 16, 2000

LAND O'LAKES -- The season opener for both teams was nothing like the traditional Land O'Lakes-River Ridge wars. With both rosters dotted with new players, the Class 3A, District 8 rivals played a sloppy first half. But the Gators dominated the second half for a 2-0 win.

"It's really two brand new teams," Land O'Lakes coach Mark Pearson said. "It was a hard-fought game but clearly not the tactical one you used to see" between the Gators and Royal Knights.

One thing familiar was seeing No. 3 for Land O'Lakes score. But Justin Geisler, who made that number famous by becoming the school's all-time leading scorer and now is a kicker at South Florida, watched from the stands.

The new No. 3, sophomore Eric Martin, tucked home a rebound of Jason Lipinski's shot in the 45th minute for Land O'Lakes' first goal. "I got lucky," Martin said. "I was just in the right place at the right time. Jason took that shot and ripped it. I was just following up. I ran really hard to get that."

River Ridge goalkeeper Devon Hill, who was tabbed to play stopper but filled in for Paul Clapson, who is in England trying out with a Second Division team, deflected Lipinski's shot.

Hill made a handful of spectacular saves in his first game at keeper but was replaced by Scott Newbold with 10 minutes left. "He went above and beyond," first-year River Ridge coach Concepcion Ledezma said of Hill.

Lipinski also set up the Gators' second goal by crossing the ball to Justin Read, who tucked it inside the left post.

Christian Potts, a transfer from Tallahassee, nearly made it 3-0 in the 68th minute by intercepting Hill's clearing attempt.

Hill ran the deflected ball down and picked it up just shy of the goal line.

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