'Cat Fight Leaves No Winners, No Losers

There was a sense of anticipation Tuesday night at the meat locker called the Lions' Den as the Land O'Lakes based-Academy at the Lakes Wildcats arrived.
Last winter, Hernando Christian Academy solved AAL Wildcats three times during regular season play before falling in the Class 2A, District 9 semifinals, 2-1 on penalty kicks. The loss propelled the Wildcats into the regional playoffs while No. 2 seeded Lions' season abruptly ended.
On a frigid pitch Tuesday evening, however, neither team could find the back of the net in a terrific defensive struggle resulting in a scoreless draw.
AAL sophomore goalkeeper Jason Pitcarin (4 saves) benefitted greatly from the presence of his 6-foot-6 sweeper brother, senior Dan Pitcarin.
The 'Cats limited HCA to five shots on goal.
On the other end of the pitch, HCA's 260-pound senior goalkeeper, Josh Romeo, faced four shots and collected three saves.

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The Wildcats' third-year mentor, Don Bellefeuille, thought his team's performance was similar to a glass being half filled.
"They (HCA) beat us three times last year and then we got lucky in PKs to beat them in districts," said Coach Bellefeuille. "Today, I thought HCA dominated us in the first half and we dominated play in the second."
Biggest positive?
"Our sweeper (Dan Pitcarin) is a premier athlete," he commented. "Sometimes we can sneak him up top, but he's invaluable in the back. He's really a large part of this team. Most of are kids are learning the game from him. What we have to get better on is getting better shots on net."
From the home sideline, fourth-year Lions' skipper Matt Carrao liked his defensive posture, but lamented his team's offensive execution.
"Today was a defensive match," said Carrao. "They're sweeper (Dan Pitcarin) was phenomenal. What we have to work on is possession. With better possession, we play even better defense and we get better shots on goal. I thought we deserved a tie tonight."
Positives?
"Romeo played well in the nets for a guy new to the sport," explained Carrao. "And we've got to get Jeff (Basiano) healthy. We may see this team again on Saturday at the Cambridge Tournament. I'd say right now we're still looking for that missing spark on offense up top."
"We should have scored, especially in the first half," shared the 18-year-old Basiano. "I thought we definitely let up (intensity-wise) in the second half."
Do-everything athlete, senior Jackie Butler concurred with Basiano.
"I thought we were a little off tonight," said the 17-year-old Butler. "It was a tough game to get a tie in."
"My defense including Kyle Marra and Nick (Adams) kept me from any trouble," added the 17-year-old Romeo. "This is only my second-ever soccer match, but I think we could have done better."

Academy at the Lakes 0, HCA 0 (draw)
AAL 0 0 - 0
HCA 0 0 - 0
Shots on goal - AAL: 4, HCA: 5.
Saves - AAL: Pitcarin 4; HCA: Romeo 3.
Yellow Cards - none.
Blue Cards - none.
Red Cards - none.
Records: Academy at the Lakes (0-2-2 overall, 0-1-1 2A-9),
Hernando Christian Academy (1-0-2 overall, 0-0-1 2A-9).