Preps: Wolves, Marauders advance at Invitational

TAMPA – Newsome girls soccer coach Kelly Townsend wasn’t expecting a big drop-off in the expectations for the Wolves this season, even with the team having lost nine starters from a season ago.

After a tight first half against Alonso, the young Wolves team made big statement as they earned a 4-1 victory to open the Lady Wildcat Invitational at Wharton High on Monday night.

With the game tied 1-1 at halftime, Newsome taking the lead through Taylor Decaire, Alonso tying it through Jenna Murphy, the Wolves came out appearing a little more settled to start the second half. Liz Haumschild and Shea Rhoney each had opportunities to give the Wolves the lead, but they finally broke through in the 57th minute.

Karina Gutsche started the move, bringing the ball in from the right towards the center circle, and she sent a long, angled ball towards Rhoney, who was making a run down the left touchline. Rhoney controlled, beat her defender, drove into the penalty area and fired a low cross into the six-yard box that was tucked away by Haumschild.

The Wolves gave themselves a two-goal cushion eight minutes later after Haumschild had a shot turned around the right post. From the ensuing corner, Caroline Evers found Gutsche at the near post for a header, and a 3-1 lead. Gutsche then turned provider in the 71st minute, slipping a pass through to Scarlett Fox, who shot home from inside the penalty area.

Townsend said she was pleased with the way the team adjusted at halftime, and was able to overcome the nerves that come with the opening game of the season.

“When you start a freshman like this at a school like Newsome, I mean, they’re scared to death, so it takes them a half,” Townsend said. “Our first game here last year was against Sickles, and we tied them 1-1, and I had all veterans playing except one, so I think the first game, no matter what, they’re going to be nervous. They want to do well, we have a huge reputation to uphold, and no-one wants to be responsible for letting that go.”

The Wolves will face Clearwater Central Catholic in a semifinal Tuesday night after the Marauders rallied to defeat host Wharton 4-3 in the second game of the night.

The game came to life with three goals in five minutes late in the first half. CCC took the lead in the 28th minute, Alexandra Alberdi scoring after the Wharton defense was only able to half-clear a cross, but the Wildcats hit back a minute later as Shelby Million picked up Emily Belanger’s cross-field ball on the right, cut inside and curled a shot into the left corner of the net.

Million then gave Wharton the lead in the 33rd minute, scoring in a similar fashion after a quick give-and-go with Baylee Dozark.

CCC responded well in the second half, peppering the Wharton goal with shots as Lindsay Cooper had a strong game in midfield. Cooper set up the equalizer, sliding a pass through to Jolie Anniclianco for a first-time finish in the 57th minute before Cooper gave the Marauders the lead six minutes later as her shot from the left eluded Wharton’s goalkeeper and slipped over the goal line.

Kaitlin Parker then added the fourth in the 70th minute, firing a curling shot from 25 yards into the top-right corner of the goal to make it 4-2. That goal proved necessary three minutes from the end, as a misplayed through-ball behind the CCC defense gave Belanger an empty net to shoot into to cut the lead to a single goal, but the Wildcats were unable to find another to tie the game.

The Wolves and Marauders will play at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Preceding them will be the tournament's other two quarterfinals, with Seminole facing Durant at 5 p.m. and Plant facing Freedom at 6:30 p.m.

Colleges: Using last season as guide, Lions look for SSC title

SAINT LEO – Saint Leo’s women have been here before. Last year, as it happens.

Then, the No.4-seeded Lions made a remarkable run to the Sunshine State Conference tournament championship.

Now, the No.4-seeded Lions are looking to do the same thing, beginning when they face No.5 seed Nova Southeastern at University Field on Tuesday night. It’s a task that Coach Ged O’Connor and his side are looking forward to.

“This is the fun time of the year, because you know every game you’re going to play is going to be a tough one,” O’Connor said.

In the past three seasons, the Lions have risen to that challenge. Including last year’s title, they have been to the SSC tournament final in each of the past three seasons. Before last season, the Lions had been the No.2 seed twice, earning a bye in the first round and advancing automatically into the semifinals. O’Connor, though, is happy to have an extra game at home.

“In a way, I’d rather finish third or fourth than finish second in the conference,” O’Connor said. “Both Rollins and Florida Tech have got over a week off, because we had to have last weekend free. That’s a long time without playing. It’s hard to stay match-fit.”

Saint Leo won 3-1 on the road when the two teams played in the penultimate game of the Lions regular season. Hannah Beard scored twice in that contest, and O’Connor said he will need Beard and center back Francesca Williams to be at their best if they Lions are to move on to face Rollins on Friday.

A bigger key, though, may be for the Lions to erase the defensive mistakes that have allowed opponents easy scoring opportunities, a trait that has bedeviled the Lions so far this season.

“If we continue to allow mistakes, it’s going to cost us,” O’Connor said. “We’ve got good enough players going forward between Pia (Soesemann), Chrissy (Darwell), Hannah and (Sara) Macko, we’ve got some damn, damn good players going forward, but I don’t know how many goals we’ve given up this year, but I’d be surprised if more than 20 percent were because of great play by the other team.”

If the Lions can fix that, though, O’Connor sees no reason why his side can’t win a second straight title.

“I think there’s a little bit of confidence, especially because they know what happened last year,” O’Connor said. “I’m not scared of any of those teams.”

Colleges: Bulls miss out on bye, will face Marquette

No.9 South Florida will have to go an extra game if it wants to retain its Big East men’s soccer title this season.

The Bulls were knocked into third place in the Red division by St. John’s on Sunday. That means the Bulls miss out on an opening round bye and will have to play Blue Division No.6 seed Marquette on Thursday night.

South Florida could have clinched a bye with a win against Rutgers on Saturday, but a 2-1 double-overtime defeat allowed the Red Storm to leapfrog the Bulls in the standings with a 2-0 win against Syracuse on Sunday evening.

South Florida will face Marquette at the USF Soccer Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Bulls and Golden Eagles played to a 1-1 tie in Tampa earlier this season, Bernardo Anor giving the Bulls a first half lead before Adam Lysac tied the game in the second half.

Preps: Lady Wildcat Invitational raises curtain on fascinating season

TAMPA – Wharton High’s fifth Lady Wildcat Invitational kicks off tonight, raising the curtain on what could prove to be a fascinating season for girls soccer in the bay area.

The eight-team tournament may have the strongest field in its history, with all four of the tournament’s semifinalists returning from a season ago, and the inclusion of Freedom and Seminole, both of which return strong squads.

Plant is the defending champion, having defeated Newsome in a shootout in last year’s final. While the Panthers have lost players like Lexi Rakestraw, Megan Fate and Courtney Zwetsch, the Panthers may actually be a stronger squad than last season. Junior forward Connor Zwetsch has already committed to Florida State, while goalkeeper Lauren Bodden and center back Amy Werdine will lead what should be a strong defense.

Those players, and an increase in depth coming off the bench, have Panthers coach Steve McGill thinking big as the team starts the season.

“I expect us to contend for the (state) title” McGill said. “I expect us to be playing at the end of the season. I think we definitely have the team and the capability to do that.”

The Panthers should get a good test to open the season when they face Freedom on Tuesday evening. Patriots coach Chris Hinkle lost his best player from last season in forward Monique LaMotte, but returns the rest of his starting 11 from a season ago.

With a large freshman class having gained a lot of experience last season coupled with the experience of players like Olivia Bloemke, the Patriots have a strong chance to win their first district title this season.

“Last year, I had a handful of starters come back,” Hinkle said, “but I incorporated a lot of new freshmen into the line-up had to get them comfortable with playing 17-, 18-year-old girls when they were 14-, 15-year-olds themselves. Now I feel like as sophomores, they’re ready to play, and I’ve got a lot of options.”

A side that is facing a similar circumstance to Freedom last season is Newsome, which lost nine starters from last season, including standouts such as Ana Cate, Kendall Graham and Morgan Sammons. But Coach Kelly Townsend isn’t expecting a drop-off from her side, with the Wolves appearing to have a strong group of young players ready to step into the starting line-up.

“Nothing short of what we’ve accomplished in years past, if not further,” Townsend said when asked of expectations for this season. “I think our transition from last year to this year has been a really smooth one, I’ve had a lot of players improve over the last year, I’ve had a lot of players get stronger over the last year and I’m really excited about this.”

One team that appears to be ready to make move is host Wharton. After having squads made up primarily of underclassmen for the past few seasons, Coach Denis Vukorep now has a more balanced squad. He expects that to bring greater consistency to his side.

“I just think we’re a team that maybe people aren’t thinking about that we’re going to have a good season,” Vukorep said. “I think we’ve shown in the past that on any given day we can post a result, and I think this year we’re going to show we can be a little more consistent.”

The Wildcats open against Clearwater Central Catholic, one of two teams to come across the bay to compete in the tournament this year. The other is Seminole, which reached the Class 5A Region final last season before losing to eventual state champion Palm Harbor.

The Warhawks haven’t lost much from that squad, and return forward Megan Lawrence who had 27 goals last season. The Warhawks also return Lawrence’s strike partner Noel Forsman and junior Sierra Lelii, midfielders Melanie Benner and Gina Heyduke, defender Tara Delvin and goalkeeper Casey Merson. Seminole coach Steve Kuplicki is looking forward to seeing how his team performs this week.

“Playing in this Wharton tournament really does give us an idea of where we are early in the season,” Kuplicki said. “What coaches do is they’ll try to look for combinations and things that will work well, especially with a tournament like this early in the season. The competition is going to be good, and we’re looking forward to it.”

Colleges: No.5 Notre Dame squashes USF's hopes

The University of South Florida women’s soccer team was looking forward to the challenge of facing No.5 Notre Dame in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.

With half-an-hour of the contest gone, and the Fighting Irish’s Melissa Henderson having already scored a hat trick, the Bulls may have been wondering if they should have been careful what they wished for, as they saw their season come to a crashing end. Notre Dame added another pair of goals before halftime, and advanced to the tournament semifinals with a 5-0 victory at Alumni Stadium.

“That was a really well-executed and decisive effort for us,” Notre Dame head coach Randy Waldrum said. “When you get into the conference tournament, and particularly when you're coming in off a bye while the other team has had a chance to play already, there's a concern that you might come out flat or unfocused. But we were sharp right from the opening kickoff, we got the early goal and we kept putting the pressure on them.”

Notre Dame took the lead in the 11th minute, as Julie Scheidler’s cross from the right found Henderson at the penalty spot, and the Irish’s leading scorer turned and fired home. The Irish doubled their lead five minutes later, an angled ball from the right side of the penalty area from Lauren Fowlkes finding Henderson for a volleyed finish.

Henderson completed her hat trick in the 29th minute, capitalizing when Bulls goalkeeper Mallori Lofton-Malachi was unable to take a cross cleanly to score her 11th of the season.

Fowlkes then scored her eighth of the season before Lofton-Malachi was substituted for Gaby Garton, a disappointing end to a standout career for the Bulls senior goalkeeper. Garton allowed the Irish’s fifth goal, scored by Ellen Jantsch in the 39th minute, and made four saves after coming on.

While the end to their season came in disappointing fashion, the season as a whole should be viewed as a success for the Bulls.

For a start, they finished the season 9-8-3 overall, the first time the Bulls have finished above .500 for a season since 1999. In addition, of the team's seniors, only Lofton-Malachi saw major playing time for the Bulls this season, giving Coach Denise Schilte-Brown players who progressed greatly over the course of this season to continue to build around in the spring and next season.

Foremost in these is the sophmomore strike duo of Chelsea Klotz and Noelle Pineiro, who combined for 16 goals this season, and junior Angelique Waller, who was outstanding in defense for the Bulls all season. Add in the experience gained by players like Gina Pacheco, Bahar Sansar, Rehana Murani and Taylor Patterson, all of whom could represent Canada in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the 2010 Under-20 World Cup in Germany, and the Bulls appear to have a bright future.

College Women's Matchday: South Florida at No.5 Notre Dame

WHEN: Sunday, 1 p.m., Alumni Stadium

NEED TO KNOW: South Florida will try to build on the first victory in the Big East tournament in the school's history when it faces Notre Dame on Sunday afternoon.

The Fighting Irish finished with the best record in the Big East, going 10-0-1, and is 14-3-1 overall. Melissa Henderson leads the team with eight goals, while Lauren Fowlkes has added seven, as the Fighting Irish have averaged 2.27 goals per game in Big East play. But the bigger strength of the Fighting Irish has been their defense, which allowed only four goals in its Big East schedule.

The Bulls will hope that Chelsea Klotz, who is second in the conference in scoring with nine goals, can continue her strong run of form. Klotz scored the only goal in the Bulls first-round victory against DePaul, having another goal wiped on a close offside call.

South Florida should also have Taylor Patterson, Gina Pacheco, Rehana Murani and Bahar Sansar back in the line-up after the quartet was absent while attending Canadian under-20 team tryouts on Thursday. Coach Denise Schilte-Brown said she was expecting the players to meet up with the team in South Bend, Ind. All four have been critical to the Bulls’ success this season, with Patterson tied for the team lead in assists with five.

The Fighting Irish have won both previous meetings of the schools by a combined score of 7-0, including a 3-0 victory last season. This, though, is a better Bulls team than both of those, and the squad is confident it is capable of pulling what would be a major upset and advancing to the semifinals.

Colleges: Bulls fall in overtime, could miss out on bye

No.9 South Florida ended the regular season on a sour note, as Andrew Cuevas gave host Rutgers a 2-1 victory in double-overtime that could end up giving the Bulls a No.3 seed, and no bye, in the Big East tournament.

That will be determined tonight when St. John’s faces Syracuse in a make-up game from Wednesday night. Should the Red Storm win, they would jump over the Bulls in the Red division, taking the No.2 seed and a first-round bye. The Bulls would then face Marquette on Wednesday night at the USF Soccer Stadium.

The Bulls had chances to take the lead in the first half, Bernardo Anor and Ogi Perucica both being denied by Scarlet Knights’ goalkeeper Adam Klink. Rutgers then took the lead in the first minute of the second half, Daniel Parr driving a shot Bulls goalkeeper Jeff Attinella couldn’t quite keep out of the net.

Hasani Sinclair tied the game for the Bulls in the 79th minute, weaving his way past a pair of defenders before striking home a decisive finish to tie the game. The Bulls hopes of taking all three points were dashed in early in the second overtime period, as Cuevas rose to head home a corner by Robbie McLarney to give the Scarlet Knights victory.