Seahawks Soar; Eagles Grounded

For the second straight winter F.W. Springstead joined its county cousins on the sidelines after one round of districts.
On Tuesday night at Booster Stadium a precocious Sunlake (10-12-3) squad, featuring six freshmen in the starting lineup, tallied a pair of goals in the final 22 minutes to oust host and No. 4 seed Springstead (14-7-2) from the Class 4A, District 8 quarterfinals, 2-0.
With the win, the fifth-seeded Seahawks, who tied Springstead 2-2 and lost 4-0 during the regular season, advanced to Wednesday night's semifinal against Dade City-Pasco.
The Pirates advanced earlier in the day by blanking Zephyrhills, 8-0.
Wednesday's other semifinal pitted Hudson against Gulf. The defending champion Cobras advanced Tuesday thanks to a 5-1 win over Wiregrass Ranch.
Vaughn rules
Sunlake Head Coach Sam Koleduk made a huge tactical move by switching perhaps his finest midfielder, Carlos Herrera, to sweeper to help bolster his defense.
Herrera and junior defender Brandon Boudreau clogged up the Eagles' passing alleys making it difficult to get clean looks against freshman goalkeeper David Danahy.
Danahy was only in the lineup because starting goalie Adrian Krupka has a broken hand.
Danahy faced 13 Springstead shots, coming away with nine saves for his first-ever shutout.
"We compacted the back," said the 15-year-old Danahy. "I thought we marked up real well."
How big was the win?
"It's the biggest win we've ever had," added Danahy. "Once we scored, my nerves started calming down. We heard they wanted to play Pasco, now we get that chance. I believe we can play better; it's all mental from here on out."
Danahy was backed up offensively by junior Timmy Vaughn's first goal of the season following a gorgeous cross by Shawn Storts at 58 minutes.
"That was my first-ever goal in high school," smiled the 17-year-old Vaughn. "But the cross was excellent. It bounced once and then I one-timed it into the net."
And defensively?
"Give credit to Boudreau and Herrera, they were excellent in the back," said Vaughn. "Our defense played great."
Fourteen minutes later, Jordan Landry's through ball on a counter attack found a streaking Miguel Laliberte, who beat Eagle sophomore goalie Joey Lasala to the far post.
As Laliberte let go of the shot that eventually went into the net, he hit the goal post and was momentarily knocked silly. Laliberte was eventually helped off the pitch.
Laliberte's 11th goal of the season, however, officially sealed the match.
Coaches react
"The first goal tonight was huge," explained Coach Koleduk. "The one thing we've done well is play defense and switching Herrera to sweeper was a big boost for us. Because we're so young, the key for us is (surviving) always the first 20 minutes."
How big was the win?
"By far, it's our school's biggest win ever," said Koleduk. "We came in as underdogs. Now, the kids have some confidence going into tomorrow night's match against Pasco. It should be another great game."
From the home sideline, veteran Eagle Head Coach Sal Calabrese was honest and deliberate with his postgame comments.
"Bottom line tonight, we played to Sunlake's level, that's what upsets me the most," said the 16-year mentor. "We're not a kick-ball team. We play a possession-type game, just like several of the better teams around here. Tonight our guys couldn't figure it out. We're not used to playing kick ball."
What about the effort?
"The effort was not there," countered Calabrese. "We were flat from the beginning. I really think our kids were looking past these guys and thinking about Pasco. We knew we were in for a long night after the first 10 minutes of the match. Once the kids made up their minds to play that way, I couldn't get them out of that mindset."
SHS graduates three seniors, including two starters. Everyone else comes back. What was Coach Calabrese most proud of this winter?
"I'm proud again of not having that one go-to scorer, we spread the wealth around," Calabrese said. "These kids really don't know how good they can be. Several of them have the ability to play at the next level. Now, they just have to work on bringing their confidence every time they step between the lines. Tonight, that's what we didn't do; play with confidence in our style."

Sunlake 2, Springstead 0
SNL 0 2 - 2
SPG 0 0 - 0
Goals - SNL: Vaughn, Laliberte.
Assists - SNL: Storts, Landry.
Shots on goal - SNL: 9; SPG: 13.
Saves - SNL: Danahy 8; SPG: Lasala 4.
Yellow Cards - SPG: Wald, Hogeland, Sullivan (unsporting behavior).
Blue Cards - none.
Red Cards - none.
Records: Sunlake (10-12-3), Springstead (14-7-2).

Class 4A-8 Boys Soccer Tourney Recap
at Springstead's Booster Stadium

01-26:
Game 1: Zephyrhills 4, Hernando 2
Game 2: Gulf 3, NCT 0

01-27:
Game 3: Pasco 8, Zephyrhills 0
Game 4: Hudson 5, Wiregrass 1
Game 5: Sunlake 2, Springstead 0

01-28:
Game 6: Hudson vs. Gulf, 6 p.m.
Game 7: Sunlake vs. Pasco, 8 p.m.