Bears snooze; Ravens cruise, 6-0

Alonso High will not making a fourth trip to the Ridgewood Holiday Classic Soccer Tournament finals.

That was guaranteed on Monday when upstart Clearwater handed the Ravens a 2-1 upset loss.

With Alonso missing seven starters - including leading scorer junior striker Thomas Gordon - the question seemed which Alonso team would show up in Tuesday's loser's bracket match against Central?

CHS had its own issues.

The Bears limped into Booster Stadium in West Pasco on Monday minus seven starters, and without their top substitute.

But in spirited match and evenly played match, Sickles rallied for a 4-3 win.

On Tuesday, CHS arrived further behind the proverbial eight-ball. The team's No. 1 scorer and county's two-time Player of the Year, senior striker Omar Odulaja, was not in uniform. According to Head Coach Alex Viramontes he was his parents and unavailable.

The tone was set early as within sixty seconds of the matches' start, Alonso's initial shot by junior striker Nicholas Iriate found the back of the net following an assist by junior Ernesto Roque as the Ravens (8-3-3) never looked back in blanking the Bears, 6-0.

Iriate, who came in with six goals, finished with a three-goal hat trick and added an assist.

Roque, who notched a pair of assists, added a goal.

Hector Diaz and Evan Saboe rebounded out the scoring for the Hillsborough County club with a goal apiece. Saboe also chipped in an assist.

With the win, the Ravens, who had reached the past three Ridgewood Holiday finals (losing last winter to Springstead), will play for third place on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, short-handed CHS, which was out-shot, 18-1, dipped to 4-4-2 on the season and will close out with a 1 p.m. consolation match on Wednesday.

"Today was very disheartening," explained CHS' first-year Head Coach Alex Viramontes. "The absence of a couple players left the other players feeling they were abandoned. We played with who was here.

"Today, the guys were a little nervous," added Coach Viramontes. "For many, it's the first time we've all played together. We've got a lot of work ahead of us. For a lot of new kids they got their first taste and saw things in a different light. Give Alonso credit, even after yesterday's loss they played together. We kinda played like a rec team out there."

Ravens' view

Despite narrowly dropping its opening round match, the short-handed Ravens bounced back nicely on Tuesday amid the 45-degree temperatures.

"We came in wanting to put it (goal) in early and go hard the rest of the game," described the 17-year-old Saboe. "I thought we played really well. We needed a lot of passing today."

"After yesterday, we needed to pass the ball and go hard," added the 16-year-old Roque, who scored his second goal of the season. "I thought scoring that early goal really helped. It wasn't even a minute into the match before we scored."

Are the Ravens disappointed in not reaching the Ridgewood finals?

"I'm not disappointed," replied Roque. "We'll go as far as we can."

"I'm not disappointed either," said the 17-year-old Iriate. "It (loss) just happened. It is what it is. Today was a very big win. We needed this to get our confidence back. Today, our backups, our passing and intensity pulled us through."

"After losing yesterday, it could have been very easy for us to pack it in," summed up raven Head Coach Alan Turnquist. "But today the kids played soccer the way they know they can. We learned some things about some guys who could help us out.

"If we would have come out and passed the ball yesterday, they way we did today, there's no doubt, we could have won," said Turnquist. "I know I'm not disappointed in not reaching the finals. Not as long as the kids give 100 percent. That's all I ask from them."

Alonso 6, Central 0
ALON 4 2 - 6
CEN 0 0 - 0
Goals - ALON: Iriate (3), Diaz, Roque, Saboe.
Assists - ALON: Roque (2), Iriate, Saboe.
Shots on goal - ALON: 18; CEN: 1.
Saves - ALON: Hughes 0; CEN: Merritt (4), Kaspars (3).
Yellow Cards - none.
Blue Cards - none.
Red Cards - none.
Records: Central (0-2 tourney, 4-4-1 overall), Alonso (1-1 tourney, 8-3-3 overall).

Ridgewood Holiday Classic Recap
12-27:
Sickles 4, Central 3
Clearwater 2, Alonso 1
Pinellas Park 7, East Bay 1
Ely 3, Ridgewood 1

12-28:
Ridgewood 3, East Bay 1
Alonso 6, Central 0
Pinellas Park vs. Ely
Sickles vs. Clearwater