TAMPA -- The old record still stands. Jesuit was denied in its bid to become the first boys soccer team in Florida to win four consecutive state championships, falling 3-1 to Orlando Bishop Moore in Saturday's Class 2A final.

The Tigers (32-2) were without their senior captain and leading scorer, Rob Daly, who suffered a deep thigh bruise in Friday's semifinal win over Jupiter. He was on crutches during the game, and John Kluft started in his place.

In the first minute, Kluft crossed to Bryce Wegerle, whose header appeared to cross the goal line; but the referee made no ruling, and Hornet goalie Mike Kent was able to scoop it up. Bishop Moore roared back with a breakaway by Frank Ambrosio that went inches wide.

In the fifth minute, Wegerle crossed to Ryan Feely, who finished in the left corner from 12 yards out.

Just when it appeared the Tigers were cruising, Bishop Moore countered in the 12th minute. Hornet striker Frank Ambrosio intercepted Justin Elliot's attempt to head it back to goalie Justin Trowbridge, and knocked it in.

Wegerle's bad luck continued in the 14th minute when he took a free kick from the top of the penalty box and curled it beautifully around a wall of defenders, only to see it hit off the left post.

Ambrosio continued to make life miserable for the Tigers. In the 16th minute, he made a spectacular 40-yard run down the right sideline, beat a defender, and found a wide open Chris Meehan in the middle for the finish. The Hornets went up 3-1 in the 20th minute when Ambrosio headed in a cross from John Welsh.

With eight minutes remaining in the half, Jesuit missed another golden opportunity when Kluft got open on the left side of the box, but sent a point-blank shot just wide.

"I was sick to my stomach when I found out (Daly) couldn’t play, but we’ve beaten good teams without him before,’’ Jesuit coach Bob Bauman said. "We looked good early, and we showed we could get it done with that first goal, but then we just had some defensive lapses in the back and couldn’t recover.’’

The Tigers tried to realign in the second half by sending sweeper Erol Belli forward and putting Evan Doyle in the back, but it didn't appear to pay off. The Hornets still outshot Jesuit 9-1 during the first 20 minutes of the second half, and striker Ezekiel Martinez nearly made it 4-1 on two occasions.

With the reality of their situation setting in, the Tigers put on a furious charge in the last 10 minutes, but Hornet keeper Mike Kent was up to the task.

The win gives Bishop Moore (25-5-2) its first state title since 1982 and is sweet revenge for a 4-0 shellacking by Jesuit in last year’s state semifinals.

"This is unbelievable, beating the number one team in the state and the number two team in the USA,’’ Hornets coach Mark Keymont said. "We were really on a mission after they killed us last year.’’

-- Jeremy Rasmussen, (c)2000 St. Petersburg Times