Bulls knock off the nation's top team

By JEREMY RASMISSEN

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 21, 1998

TALLAHASSEE -- Bloomingdale will play for its third Class 6A state championship today after beating top-ranked Hialeah American 1-0 in Friday's semifinals.

The Bulls' game plan was simple: pressure the ball everywhere on the field to keep the Patriots out of their skillful passing game. Whenever a player in a white jersey had the ball, there were three black-jerseyed Bulls around him.

"Our plan was to shut them down from the back forward," Bloomingdale coach Dave Tennian. "However, they're so good, they pushed us into our own end and had some chances."

One of the Pats' chances came midway through the first half when John Pulido crossed to Fernando Valenzuela in the middle. Bull goalkeeper John Gustafson was screened out of the play, but at the last second, Casey Stump cleared Valenzuela's shot off the goal line.

After weathering the early storm, the Bulls' plan paid off with the game's lone goal in the 22nd minute. Bobby Anderson stole the ball at midfield and passed it to a streaking Chris Gatlyn on the left wing.

Gatlyn took it, made a move on a defender and beat charging goalkeeper Juan Vargas to the far post. The goal was Gatlyn's 35th of the season.

American (30-1-1) came into the game as the No. 1 ranked team in the Umbro/National Soccer Coaches Association of America national poll. The Patriots had handed the Bulls (24-1-1) their only loss of the season, 3-1 at December's Puma tournament.

"(American) was a superb team," Tennian said. "They were not overrated one bit. They deserved to be No. 1 nationally."

Tennian said revenge for the earlier loss was not a motivating factor in the win.

"We felt we were outplayed in the first game," he said. "We made some lineup adjustments. We're a lot more comfortable with what's on the field now."

In the second half, the Bulls defense dropped eight players back into the box, making the Pats' scoring chances even slimmer. Still, Gustafson had to come up with two big saves to preserve the shutout.

"Winning a game like this gives you so much confidence heading into the finals," Stump said.

The Bulls won state titles in 1993 and '95 and face Fort Lauderdale Western (17-5-3) in tonight's final at 8 p.m. at Gene Cox Stadium.

American coach James Willenborg offered no excuses after the loss.

"We lost a game, not our lives," he said. "We had our chances. One touch here or there and it could have been different.

"We won 30 games this year by staying focused. We were focused today. We played hard, they just played a great game today and beat us."

©Copyright 1998 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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