Gators crush Panthers


LAND O' LAKES - Tuesday night's Class 3A-Region 3 quarterfinal between Land O' Lakes and Plant looked to be a matchup of star forwards Stacy Bishop and Janessa Taddei. It turned into Casie Poyssick against nobody.

Taddei watched from the sideline with an injured ankle as Poyssick scored four goals to lead the Gators (23-5-1) to a crushing 7-0 home victory against the Panthers (12-7). Plant also played without Jamie Shelton, its top defender, who was out with an illness.

``The player I was supposed to mark didn't play, so I moved up. I'm happy about that,'' said Poyssick, who was supposed to play defensive midfield and mark Taddei. ``When there are two or three people on Stacy, it always opens me up.''

Bishop, who leads Pasco County with 103 points, was double-teamed the entire night but still scored twice. Land O' Lakes outshot the Panthers 19-0. Plant forward Stephanie Swanz only touched the ball twice in the match.

``We've got 18 freshmen and sophomores trying to learn. With two senior captains out, we were fighting an uphill battle,'' Plant coach Rob Nelson said. ``Land O' Lakes is a very good team.''