Western tops East Lake 3-1

East Lake flooded by Western storm

By JEREMY RASMUSSEN

TALLAHASSSEE -- East Lake had its chances but could not capitalize in a 3-1 Class 6A semifinal loss to Fort Lauderdale Western on Friday. The win gave Western (17-5-3) a berth in the title game today while the Eagles ended their Cinderella season at 20-2-1.

"Sometimes, it's just not your day. Today was definitely not ours," East Lake coach Steve Wagner said. "But I can't be prouder of our kids, how we played this whole season."

The Western players all came out with shaved heads. Perhaps they were trying to gain an aerodynamic advantage amid windy conditions on the playing field.

Western's team unity paid off as it flooded the East Lake penalty area and scored an early goal.

During an intense sequence, Chris Soler took a point-blank shot that was tipped over the goal by Eagle keeper Adam Hilderbrandt. Then, a shot by Scott MacNeill was cleared off the goal line by East Lake's Tony Rosso. Finally, Alan Sanchez put away a loose ball in the middle.

Western took a 2-0 lead late in the half when Hugo Arce converted on a penalty kick.

Despite their deficit, the Eagles outshot the Wildcats 12-6 in the first half. Shots by Neil Hildenbrand, David Szucs and Rosso were all near-misses. A header by Chris Zayas hit off the crossbar.

"We had an unlucky game today," Hildenbrand said. "They came out and played hard and took us out of our game."

In the second half, things got worse for East Lake before they got better. After Soler was fouled at the top of the box, Arce booted a free kick past a wall of Eagle defenders to make it 3-0.

East Lake finally got on the board on Hildenbrand's penalty kick with 17:36 remaining after Zayas was taken down in the box.

"They pressured us hard in the first half," Wildcat coach Gary Coleman said. "If they'd converted on any of those it might have been a different game."

In the end, the Eagles could not get past a tightly-packed defense led by Western sweeper Joe Kamrad.

"Maybe since it was our first time getting here, the level of play intimidated us," Wagner said. "But we felt our skill was as good as theirs. We just had no luck finishing.

"We felt confident at halftime that we could come back, but we got a little frustrated and were taken out of our game."

Here's what another reporter had to say about the game...

Western in state title game

By DAVE HEEREN
Sun-Sentinel Staff
Found on DigitalCity.Com ©1998.

TALLAHASSEE -- Western's aggressive play drew key fouls, which it converted into two goals that gave the Wildcats a 3-1 victory over East Lake and a berth in today's Class 6A boys' soccer championship match.

Western (17-5-3) will face Valrico Bloomingdale (24-1-1) in the championship game at 3 p.m. at Capital Stadium. Bloomingdale upset Hialeah American (31-1-1), the top-ranked team in the United States, 1-0 in Friday's other semifinal game.

"We just had an unlucky game," said East Lake forward Neil Hildenbrand, who scored his team's goal on a penalty kick late in the second half.

By that time, the Wildcats had a 3-0 lead.

Western opened the scoring with a goal by Alan Sanchez in the 13th minute of play. In rapid sequence, shots by Chris Soler and Nick Lucena were saved before Sanchez knocked in the rebound of Lucena's shot.

With three minutes remaining in the first half, Western's Felipe Catano was fouled in front of the East Lake goal. East Lake players and coaches disputed the call. Soler converted the penalty kick for a 2-0 Western lead.

"Every time I take a PK, I'm scared," the sophomore said. "I didn't think anything. I just ripped it."

Three minutes into the second half Western scored the goal that put the game out of reach for East Lake (20-2-1).

Soler was fouled just outside the goal box. On the ensuing free kick from about 20 yards, Hugo Arce lifted a shot over a defensive wall and scored in the upper left corner of the net.

It was the first time all season that a team had scored more than two goals against East Lake.

"They are a quality side," East Lake coach Steve Wagner said about Western. "They don't have one area that sticks out. They have consistency. Sometimes that's what it takes to get to the next game."

East Lake outshot Western 20-14. Western goalkeeper Billy Whitton was credited with five saves. East Lake keeper Adam Hildenbrand made four saves.

Western coach Gary Coleman called it an even game. "I'm relieved it's over," Coleman said. "I didn't think ever at any point either team dominated the field. I felt East Lake was capable of scoring two goals in a minute. Our guys had to play the full 80 minutes."

Press here to go back to the State soccer finals recap.