Opposite Directions

Two county programs seemed headed in opposite directions Wednesday night on the Tom Fisher Memorial Stadium pitch.

One team, Nature Coast Technical, might be turning a corner with its third win in four matches after collecting only two victories prior to last week.

The other, host Hernando High, continued its now epic struggles, falling for the 34th consecutive time thanks to a 3-0 loss to the county and Class 4A, District 8 rival Sharks.

Nature Coast won the previous meeting Dec. 8 at home, 8-0.

"The players, they're passing, they're communicating," Nature Coast Head Coach Patrick O'Grady said. "I could have stacked the forwards a little more with older players, maybe gone for another (8-0) shutout.

"But I'd rather see a team play together than just individuals scoring goals and that's what we're showing people we can do lately."

Missed opportunities

Perhaps nothing epitomized the current troubles of Hernando (0-19 overall, 0-15 4A-8) more than one moment in the first half when a Leopard player missed high on a wide-open net.

"It was a hard-fought match," Hernando Head Coach Kevin Knox said. "I think they played well. We missed some opportunities to score, that kind of hurt us.

"We're looking for our first win. We've got districts on the 26th and every game to us is time to get better and play together as a unit."

Nature Coast (5-13 overall, 5-10 4A-8) received its first goal in the 17th minute. Joe MacGregor got the ball on a breakaway and scored off a deflection.

Eight minutes later, David MacLean took a pass from Lachlan Cameron and made it 2-0, the score at intermission.

A mostly uneventful second half was highlighted by a late goal from Brandon Misener, assisted by Trevor Hayworth. Shark keeper Jared Sandifer made three saves, all in the first half, in recording the shutout.

Keepers Michael Davalos and Jesse Lane combined for five saves for the Leopards, who had no shots on goal in the second half. However, Coach Knox liked the effort he saw from his squad.

"They played up tonight," Knox said. "They showed what team they are tonight. They came out, played hard. Unfortunately there were balls that didn't go our way a couple of times."

As for Nature Coast, its season has suddenly picked up some steam as it heads toward postseason play.

"We lost on Monday (to Wiregrass Ranch, 3-2) but that was by one goal," O'Grady said. "The communication, from working together, somehow we got rid of the thought of every individual is more important than the team. I think they see that now."

NATURE COAST 3, HERNANDO 0
Nature Coast 2 1 - 3
Hernando 0 0 - 0
Goals - NCT: MacGregor, D. MacLean, Misener.
Assists - NCT: Cameron, Hayworth.
Shots on goal - NCT: 9, HER: 3.
Saves - NCT: Sandifer 3; HER: Davalos 2, Lane 3.
Yellow Cards - Weeks, Curtis (NCT), Champney (HER).
Blue Cards - none.
Red Cards - none.
Records: Nature Coast (5-13 overall, 5-10 4A-8), Hernando (0-19 overall, 0-15 4A-8).