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Steve Sullivan's early goal holds up as the Cowboys defeat the Tigers 1-0.
By MIKE READLING
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 23, 2000
TAMPA -- When the Puma International brackets were released a few weeks ago, the matchup almost everybody wished for was Jesuit-Gaither. There were two things going against that game, however.
First, if the two local powers were to meet, it would be in the Elite Division final. Second, there were an awful lot of nationally ranked teams in between.
Friday night, despite having faced four ranked teams between them, Gaither, Jesuit and soccer fans from all over the nation got their wish as the two schools faced off. It turned out to be everything everyone had hoped for.
Gaither, ranked No. 15 by Foxstudentsports.com, scored 10 minutes into the contest and then packed the box, allowing Jesuit to control the ball but not the scoreboard as it held on for a 1-0 win over the defending champion. The win, which earned Gaither its first Puma title, is expected to move the Cowboys into the No. 3 spot in the national poll behind Klein, Texas, which opens its season Jan. 9, and Mater Dei from California, which beat Bloomingdale 6-1 in the Premier Division final to assume the top spot. Flagler Palm Coast, which entered the tournament as the No. 1 ranked team, lost on the tournament's opening day to Brandon and will drop out of the top five.
"They never let us get a rhythm," Gaither coach Adrian Bush said. "But we prepare for that type of situation, and these guys did a really good job at handling themselves tonight. If you had told me we would win 1-0 the way the game was played, I would have told you you were crazy.
"If you would have told me we would win three games by shutout and allow one goal in four games, I would have told you you were crazy."
Gaither (13-1) got the boost it was looking for early when Bryce Wegerle, who transferred from Jesuit before this season, sent a corner kick into the box. Teammate Norris Hartzog flicked it across the mouth of the goal, where several players from both teams had a shot at it before Steve Sullivan tapped it in for the goal.
Gaither keeper Jared Swindle then kept up his end of the bargain, making several dazzling saves, including one where he reached to his right to take the ball off of the foot of Sean Sullivan inches before the ball crossed the goal line.
"Unbelievable. He was big time tonight," Bush said of Swindle. "He knows he has to come up with one or two of those a game. If we gave a team defensive MVP, he would be it."
In the other final, Bloomingdale fell victim to a much faster Mater Dei team in what coach Dave Tennian called the worst loss in his 11-year career at Bloomingdale.
The Bulls trailed 4-1 at the half and couldn't get anything going against Mater Dei's speed.
"Their speed hurt us," Tennian said.
"Usually, we're the fastest team out there. But today, they ran right by us."