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Wegerle
paces Gaither The son of former Tampa
Bay Rowdies star Steve Wegerle was suspended from the Cowboys just after the
holidays and wasn't on top of his game. Both incidents have been
erased and Wegerle is back, and back on top. The senior forward scored twice
Tuesday to lead the Cowboys (22-3-1) to a 4-1 win against Vero Beach (16-6-3)
at Pepin/Rood Stadium in the Class 4A-Region 2 semifinals, and help the
Cowboys set a school record for wins in a season. ``Over the last month, we
have really been getting down to business,'' Wegerle said. ``When the games
start winding down, it is time for everybody to step up their game. I commend
the whole defense, they have started to pick up the slack.'' Gaither took a 2-0
halftime lead on goals by Wegerle and David Jennings, Wegerle's on a long-
pass counterattack and Jennings coming on a nice header pass from Steve
Sullivan to a wide-open Jennings inside the box. But Vero Beach came out on
the attack in the second half, pressuring the Gaither defense and managing to
cut the lead in half on Elliot List's goal in the 46th minute. But the
Cowboys would not wilt under the charging Indians attack and recovered the
two- goal advantage in the 59th minute when Norris Hartzog split the defense
with a pretty head pass that Wegerle ran onto and left-footed the ball into
the upper-90. Wegerle gave the Indians'
defense fits all night with his touch passing, pinpoint shooting and ball
control while dribbling downfield. ``It's been a great
turnaround for [Wegerle] over the past month and I think he has really
matured as a player and a person, and I think that was very evident
tonight,'' Gaither coach Adrian Bush. ``But I still don't think he has played
his best game, even as well as he played tonight.'' Class 2A-Region 2: At Hudson, the crossbar and a
heady defender kept Hudson from advancing to the region final for the first
time in school history. The Cobras twice hit the
crossbar in the second half and Hudson freshman defender Marc Kaus kicked
away two would-be goals as Rockledge held on for a 1-0 victory. The Raiders (18-7-4) had
just three shots on goal compared to 11 for Hudson (21-7-1), but one by Zsan
Robinson found the back of the net in the 31st minute for the match's lone
goal. ``No luck. No luck,''
Hudson coach Ron Ladimir said. ``Four posts, I think. There's nothing you can
do.'' Class A-Region 2: At Tampa, Tampa Catholic doesn't
make excuses. They don't talk themselves up. The Crusaders just produce. Tuesday, in the Class
A-Region 2 semifinals, Tampa Catholic (15-6) produced again with a 1-0
victory against Melbourne Central Catholic (21-7-1), moving to within a game
of returning to the state semifinals. The Crusaders will play at Clearwater
Central Catholic in Friday's Region 2 final. ``Our boys just fight for
each other and succeed through hard work and determination and they listen to
the coaching staff,'' Tampa Catholic coach Peter Ward said. Chris Rogers scored the
only goal of the game in the 68th minute. Chris Blaze sent a free kick into
the box to Mike Rogers, who head-flicked a pass to the far post to Eric
Blattler. Blattler missed the pass, but was composed enough to collect the
ball near the edge of the box and send it back on net to Chris Rogers, who
tapped the ball in for the game- winner. From that point on, the
Crusaders bunkered down for a Melbourne onslaught on the net, as the Hustlers
sent six shots on frame in the final 10 minutes, and held on to the lead. Class 2A-Region 3: At Palmetto, Jesuit survived a
physical game to advance to Friday's region final as the Tigers attempt to
reach the state championships for the seventh consecutive year. Players from both teams
exchanged extracurricular tackles and shoves while coaches and fans from both
sides engaged in a war of words. Jesuit (27-2), ranked No.
2 in the nation by Foxsports.net, stayed on its feet long enough to fight
past Palmetto 3-0. But both teams left the field with beefs against each
other. ``It's embarrassing,''
said Jesuit head coach Bob Bauman, who felt Palmetto (15-7-2) was
intentionally trying to hurt his players once his team got the lead. ``We
came here to play soccer and we expected a soccer match. I just want my
players protected. ``We've seen this the last
couple of years from players in this area. We get ahead by three or four
goals and somebody on the other side decides they want to take somebody
out.'' ``Soccer is a tough game
and we came out and played physical,'' said Palmetto coach Dustin Dahlquist,
who defended his team's play. ``Maybe they haven't played a physical team
before.'' The match became
increasingly more physical after Jesuit went ahead 3-0 early in the second half.
By the final whistle, 25 fouls and three yellow cards had been issued. Class 4A-Region 2: At Stuart, Bloomingdale's boys
soccer team traveled across the state in hopes of moving one step closer to
reaching its third state Final Four appearance in four seasons. Instead the Bulls watched
their state title hopes end in frustrating fashion as they lost 5-1 in a
Class 4A regional semifinal at Martin County's Tiger Stadium. Martin County senior
forward Doug Lewis scored two goals, and Tigers' goalkeeper Seth Steinhauer
made nine saves. Bloomingdale senior
midfielder Josh Garbee scored the Bulls lone goal in the 24th minute,
snapping a string of four consecutive shutouts by Martin County (17-6-3) to
tie the game. But that proved to be little consolation for the Bulls, who
gave up three goals in the second half and failed to convert a penalty kick
with 14 minutes remaining in the game. Bloomingdale coach Dave
Tennian was unavailable for comment after the game. Class 3A-Region 3: At Seminole, Brandon Giles and
Phil Caldwell netted two goals each as Seminole stunned visiting Land O'
Lakes 5-1 to earn its first regional final appearance since 1984. The Warhawks (19-5-4) will
play at Clearwater on Friday. It was easily the worst
outing of the season for the Gators (25-5-1), who had reached the Class 3A
State Final Four the past two years. They surrendered two scores in the first
six minutes and more than three goals in a match for the first time all
season. Afterward, Land O' Lakes
coach Mark Pearson blamed the bus driver. The team's bus arrived 40
minutes late at Land O' Lakes High. An hour and a half later, at 6:10 p.m.,
it pulled up at Seminole. the match started 35 minutes late and the Gators
never were ready. ``We weren't even there.
It wasn't our team. We were asleep,'' Pearson said. ``On the goals we gave
up, guys were running through completely free.'' Giles scored on an assist
from Mike Stanton in the second minute and Caldwell connected on a header off
a free kick from Damon Lister in the sixth minute. Jason Lipinski cut the
lead to 2-1 on an assist from Brian Bishop two minutes later, but Caldwell
headed in his second goal in the 26th minute. Class 3A-Region 3: At Clearwater, Wharton couldn't
hang with Clearwater in the second half as the Tornadoes used their size
advantage to beat the Wildcats, 4-2. Wharton went ahead on a
Jon Burklo goal, but Clearwater tied it before the half and went ahead with
three second-half goals. ``Physically, we could not
keep up,'' Wharton coach Mike Rowan said. ``They were just bigger and
stronger and they kept sending the ball long and high and it caught up to us.
They had a plan, knew it would work and just wore us down.'' |