Gaither beats another good team
Gaither beats another good team
By JEREMY RASMUSSEN
Published 12/9/98 in the St. Petersburg Times
TAMPA – After being snubbed again in the latest Class 6A state poll, Gaither took out its frustrations on East Lake in a 3-1 win on Tuesday.
The Cowboys (9-0) capitalized on the Eagles’ inability to finish, and picked up some easy goals of their own on East Lake defensive lapses.
Gaither has beaten Bloomingdale and Jesuit, both top-ranked in their respective classifications at the time. However, Bloomingdale came in second in this week’s Florida Athletic Coaches Association state poll, while Gaither is ranked third. Hialeah Lakes American, a state semifinalist last year, is No. 1.
""We’re at the point now where we just see the polls and laugh,’’ Bush said. ""We know it doesn’t matter what the polls say. We have to win on the field to earn respect.’’
The Eagles (5-3, ranked No. 9 in Class 6A), came out firing in the first half with a flurry of shots but could not penetrate the goal.
Midway through the half, after pressuring East Lake in its defensive side of the field, the Cowboys got a steal, and Mike Harris sent it up to Ben Cowherd for the finish.
The Cowboys came out with heavy defensive pressure again in the second half, and when East Lake failed to clear, Jeff Thwaites was there to put it away in the 44th minute.
Gaither appeared content to sit on its lead for the remainder, but the Eagles got several close chances by Brian Bashara, Neil Hildenbrand, and T.J. Brown. Each time, though, Cowboy goalie Antony Roca was in position for the save.
With less than two minutes remaining, Bashara got a ball in the corner and crossed to James Karr. Karr had missed on a point blank shot two minutes earlier and picked up a yellow card in frustration, but this time, he headed it in to avoid the shutout.
The Cowboys reawakened immediately and went down to score with 30 seconds remaining. Thwaites capped his second goal off a long throw-in by Harris.
""Our start and finish showed a lack of preparation and an inability to focus for the full 80 minutes,’’ Bush said. ""East Lake’s a good team. We want to be where East Lake was last year—district champs—and we know that we’ll have to go through them to get there.’’
In the girls game, East Lake and Gaither battled to a scoreless tie.