By JEREMY RASMUSSEN
©1998 St. Petersburg Times
CLEARWATER -- There was no shortage of offense in Friday's SCORE Senior Soccer Challenge. The goals came in bunches as Pinellas swept both the boys and girls games from Hillsborough for the first time in the Challenge's five year history.
In a wild boys game, Pinellas went down 3-1 early in the second half before rallying for a 5-4 win on Russell Vreeland's blast from the top of the box with 8:25 remaining.
Pinellas went up 1-0 early in the match when Largo's Chris Mitchell knocked in a loose ball bobbled by Hillsborough keeper Roy Swarts. Swarts made up for it by robbing Vreeland on a breakaway moments later.
Pinellas sweeper Tony Mione was having a stellar first half until he failed to trap a loose ball, and Berkeley's Tomas Espina picked it up to score.
Moments later, Chris Gatlyn scored on a goal reminiscent of his game-winner in Bloomingdale's 1-0 state semifinal against Hialeah American. He took the ball on the left wing, sped past a defender to the near post, and slipped it under goalie Adam Hilderbrandt to give Hillsborough a 2-1 halftime edge.
In the second half, Espina stole another errant back pass by Pinellas and converted again for a 3-1 lead. Two minutes later, however, Seminole's Steve Harper followed up on a deflected shot by Vreeland to bring Pinellas within 3-2. Pinellas tied the game on a beautiful left-footed shot by Isaac Mullis, assisted by Countryside teammate Geoff Peattie.
Gatlyn buried his second goal from the right side of the box with 20 minutes remaining.
Late in the match, Largo midfielder Joe Valencia brought Pinellas back once again, scoring off Mitchell's precision feed between two defenders. Consecutive shots by Mullis and Peattie hit off the crossbar before Vreeland nailed the game-winner.
Peattie was named most valuable player for Pinellas, and Berkeley defender John Marshburn won for Hillsborough.
""Peattie's work rate from the opening whistle was just tremendous,'' Pinellas coach Rick Masi said. The victory was the first in three tries for Masi, whose teams lost 3-1 the past two years.
In the girls game, Countryside's Jamie Theil scored a pair of first half goals to lead Pinellas to a 4-2 victory.
Theil scored on a pass from East Lake's Jill Stevens in the 10th minute, but Hillsborough roared back to tie on Emily Lawler's goal in the 17th minute. Lawler, a Land O' Lakes senior, was a last minute roster addition due to several Hillsborough injuries.
Stevens and Theil notched goals within a minute of each other midway through the first half to give Pinellas a 3-1 halftime lead.
""I thought Jill and I worked great together,'' Theil said. ""We'd never gotten to play on the same team together before.'' The two will see a lot more of each other next year as freshmen playing at the University of Florida, along with fellow Pinellas star Whitney Singer.
Lakewood's Marissa Venuti scored in the 60th minute to put Pinellas up 4-1 before Tampa Prep's Jen Simoneau got credit for Hillsborough's last goal on a corner kick that slipped through Jennifer Engelke's hands.
""I thought both teams were pretty talented up front, but it came down to finishing. They put away their chances, and we didn't,'' Hillsborough coach Jim Cote said.
Cecily Nobilit of East Lake and Bloomingdales' Jana Escribano were named MVPs of the game.
Notes:
Highs: More than $8500 has been raised for player scholarships in the five years the Challenge has been played. Six $500 scholarships were handed out this year to players writing essays on "What Soccer Means To Me."
Lows: Two CCC boys players didn't show up to play as a protest because one of their teammates wasn't selected to the team. No, matter, Pinellas won without them.