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Hernando Today

Lain survives injury scare; 'Dawgs edge Sharks, 1-0

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By MARTY MILLER, Hernando Today correspondent

Published: December 25, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - Despite having J.J. Lain involved in a collision that caused him to be sent by helicopter to a hospital in Tampa with a possible concussion, the Nature Coast Technical Sharks boys' soccer team still almost managed to pull out a point in its 1-0 loss to Zephyrhills Thursday night.

The Bulldogs got a first half goal from Jason Wilcox and made it stand up in the win. But the more important thing was the condition of Lain, a junior and co-captain of the Sharks.

According to Hernando County Sheriff Deputy Kenneth Keeney, Lain was alert, talking and able to move all of his extremities after the collision.

"He was going after a ball with a Zephyrhills player when they both went up for a ball and collided heads," Keeney said after the contest Thursday.

"We decided to Medi-Vac him to Tampa General Hospital on a precautionary basis. He was doing well and he could move his arms and legs and he was talking with us. We just wanted to make sure there were no internal injuries, but he was doing very well."

NCT's first-year Head Coach Patrick O'Grady also was more concerned about the condition of Lain than his team's loss.

"There was no malicious act, no foul," commented O'Grady. "It was just something that happened in the course of play. Hopefully, he will be in the hospital overnight and we'll hear better news in the morning."

One and done

In the game, Zephyrhills scored the game's only goal in the first half off a corner kick. Kris Fergoso took the corner from the right side and sent it into the penalty box to Jason Wilcox, who out jumped the Sharks defenders to get a head on the ball and put it past NCT goalie Nick Allegra at the 16-minute mark.

But even after the game was halted for over 30 minutes due to the situation with Lain, the Sharks managed to make a game of it after the restart.

With three minutes left in the game, the Sharks made two key defensive plays in front of their own net.

First, Wilcox took a shot from close range that bounced off the goal goal post. Then with the rebound, Fergoso hit a shot that was saved by NCT defender Daniel Colon off the goal line.

Then in the final minute of the game, NCT forward Britton Cox had two excellent chances to score, one just missed the net and the last one went off the left goal post.

"Before the collision, I thought we were doing well but even after that, it was 1-0 and we had several chances at the end. I think the morale of the team was high even after the incident. I guess they wanted to win the game for J.J.," O'Grady said.

The loss, which was a district game for the Sharks, drops their record to 2-12-2 and 2-11-2 in Class 4A, District 8 while the Bulldogs are now 3-9-5 overall and 3-5-5 in the district.

Coach O'Grady and his team are now done with games until after the holidays, but have four straight games they are looking forward to.

"We have in order, Hernando, Hudson, Wiregrass Ranch and Crystal River after the break," added O'Grady. "And hopefully, we can earn some points out of those games."

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