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Hernando Today

Land O' Lakes Takes 5A-7 Lead, 3-0

Photo by JOE DiCRISTOFALO

Central Head Coach Hank Deslaurier is issued a yellow card in the first half during Wednesday's home match against Land O' Lakes.

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By MARTY MILLER

Hernando Today correspondent

Published: December 3, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Going into the game Wednesday night, the overall lead in the Class 5A, District 7 standings was deadlocked between unbeatens Land O' Lakes and Central.
And after a scoreless first half that had the referee issue eight yellow cards between the two teams, it seemed that maybe the district lead would remain tied.
But then in the second half, the Gators opened up their offense and scored three goals, one of them an own goal by Central, to beat the Bears, 3-0.
Land O' lakes improved its record to 7-1-1 while Central suffered its first loss of the season and fell to 8-1-0.
"I think we dominated the play, but I think their goalie (Mike Ogren) played a great game," said LOL coach Mark Pearson. "He must have made a half-dozen saves that kept them in the game."
Land O' Lakes controlled most of the play in the opening half as the Gators out-shot Central, 10-2.
Central had one real chance to score in the half, but a free kick by Omar Odulaja just outside the penalty box in the 20th minute was headed wide by a Gator defended.
The half also was a tad rowdy, as five yellow cards were handed out to Land O' Lakes and three to Central.
But the second half was in the Gators' hands, even though their first goal was an own goal by Central.
In the 56th minute, Nathan Dalton of LOL took a loose ball that was to the left on the Central goal and kicked the ball toward the net.
The shot ricochet off the leg of Bear defender Jake Stone standing by the near post and went into the net.
Later in the half, LOL scored two more goals. First, Jon Siraguso put in a rebound of a shot by Sebastian Garcia for a goal in the 58th minute and then Garcia blasted in a rebound from Felix Soto 10 minutes later.
The win gives Land O' Lakes the early lead in the district race, but the Gators' Coach Pearson is not putting a huge emphasis on it yet.
"It's still way too early in the season for us to think about that yet," he said. "It helps to win here because we have to come back here later in the year and play the district tournament."
On the final stat sheet, the Gators out-shot Central, 24-2, as Ogren made 16 saves.

Land O'Lakes 3, Central 0
LOL 0 3 – 3
CEN 0 0 – 0
Goals – Siraguso, Garcia (LOL); Own goal (CEN).
Shots on goal – LOL 24; CEN 2.
Saves – LOL (Spock) 1; CEN (Ogren) 16.
Fouls – LOL 14; CEN 10.
Yellow cards – Garcia, Cutrofello 2, Land O' Lakes assistant coach, Land O' Lakes Head Coach Pearson; Hernandez, Anderson, Central Head Coach Deslaurier.
Records – Land O'Lakes (7-1-1 overall, 4-0-0 5A-7), Central (8-1-0 overall, 2-1-0 5A-7).

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