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Hernando Today

Central turns Shark Tank into shooting gallery

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Published: December 17, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - The shots kept on coming by Central High. Nature Coast Technical goalkeeper Nick Allegra did all he could to swat them away.

Alas, he could only do so much.

The sophomore net minder tallied 19 saves, but the Bears put up 26 shots on goal, allowing them to walk away from Shark Tank Stadium Wednesday night with a 4-1 victory.

"You take 100 shots and eventually some go in," Central Head Coach Hank Deslaurier said. "It was a good test for us. We came out here to play. We didn't want get our emotions upset.

"It seemed to me they were packing in the back and waiting for us to come at them. They don't have the speed to play with us."
Sharks strike first

Conversely to Allegra, new Central (7-4-1 overall, 4-0 Hernando County Athletic Conference) keeper Kyle Beach, a recent transfer from Springstead High, barely had to break a sweat.

The 6-foot-8 senior faced only two shots from Nature Coast (2-8-2 overall, 1-4 HCAC), saving one. The other shot resulted in the game's first goal, by Jean-Pierre Salazar.

That 1-0 lead held until the 15:09 mark, when Will Anderson scored on a penalty kick that deflected off the diving

Christian Velasquez put the Bears ahead to stay on a goal with 3:09 remaining in the half, assisted by Anderson.

In the second half, Nick Hernandez put in a loose ball in front of the net in the 57th minute, and Dylan Hall added a goal with 9:30 left to play.

"I feel like we played well," Nature Coast Head Coach Patrick O'Grady said. "We started off strong. We started off with a fairly early goal, against a strong keeper.

"...He's (Allegra) the best goalkeeper in the county by saves alone. And for Jean-Pierre Salazar to score a goal against Beach, that was an accomplishment too."

O'Grady, in his first year at helm, noted that he had several players out of the line-up with various ailments.

"We approach the second half (of the season) now," O'Grady said. "We were on a little bit of a high; we had two ties and a win back-to-back. We felt we were on a high, getting over the hump. Then we suffered a lot of injuries.

"I think that had a lot to do with what happened tonight. I had a lot of players I had to pull up from JV. I think they did well."

Central had its eye on postseason positioning, with a key Class 5A, District 7 match-up on Friday at Ridgewood High.

"We need to win Friday night to have the number two seed (in the district) locked up," Deslaurier said. "Just play soccer. Stay in our game plan. Keep the ball, share the ball."

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