Florida state soccer finals

By JEREMY RASMUSSEN
St. Petersburg Times Correspondent
March 22, 1998

TALLAHASSEE -- Here are some notes and commentary from my three days
at the Florida state soccer finals:

SUPERSTARS

I was talking with one of the college coaches who was at the state tourney for recruiting, and we were in agreement that there were not that many great players in Tallahassee this year. They teams were very, very good, but there were not many standout individuals. I guess that's a good thing. Since soccer is a team sport, you'd expect the team to be the most important thing. Still, fans love superstars. They're sort of what makes the game more fun.

If I were going to choose a couple standouts, Bloomingdale forward Chris Gatlyn and sweeper Casey Stump would be on the list. So would American midfielder John Pulido and maybe sweeper Justin Ratcliffe. Of course, there's All-American Sheldon Barnes of St. Thomas Aquinas. We'll probably see him on the U.S. team some day. Stephen Miller of Neptune Beach Fletcher was an especially impressive striker with a high work rate. He's going to UNC-Charlotte. East Lake's Neil Hildenbrand showed some flashes of brilliance. With another year to go, his game should only continue to improve. Western's Chris Soler was a big, imposing striker. However, I doubt he has the speed to play at the next level. Same with Western sweeper Joe Kamrad--a very heady player, but probably not quick enough to play Division I ball. I liked all of the goalies. I didn't see a shabby one in the bunch. I don't know if any are worthy of college, though. Maybe Jeremy Flint of St. Thomas. He came up huge in both shootouts I saw the Raiders in.

So, in all, I only saw 5-6 players who were legitimate big-time college prospects, and only two were seniors this year.

MOTIVATION

After Bloomingdale's amazing 1-0 semifinal win over national No.1-ranked American, I remember asking Bulls coach Dave Tennian and sweeper Corey Stump if they thought they might have a letdown in the final. Such an emotional, hard-fought victory carries a price. Tennian said two words "State championship" were enough to motivate his team. Stump concurred that the Bulls would have no trouble getting up for lowly Western.

However, in the final, Bloomingdale was not nearly the team it had been the night before. Give credit to Western. They played hard, they tried to beat Bloomingdale on the long ball, but they could not get past the Bulls defense. In one sequence, left fullback Bobby Anderson missed a trap and Wildcat winger Scott MacNeill ran past him to get the ball on a breakaway. Anderson, at least three steps back, caught up to MacNeill on a dead run and cleared the ball away. Speed kills. And in the end, a lack of motivation on Bloomingdale's part was overcome by its sheer athleticism.

SHOOTOUTS

It didn't hurt that Bloomingdale was good in shootouts, either. It was 3-for-3 this season. Two other teams that I thought should've been in the Class 5A state tournament--Largo and St. Petersburg--had their seasons end in shootouts in the regionals. In fact, judging from the talent I saw in the 5A finals, Largo or St. Pete could easily have challenged for the state title. If Bloomingdale was lucky, St. Thomas Aquinas was even luckier. St. Thomas scored a total of four goals in four games (regional semi, regional final, state semi, and state final), even being shutout against Largo in the regional final. The Raiders' only goal in the state final was from a penalty kick.

There's something to be said for a team that has the mental toughness to win a shootout. Still, I wish there were some other way to determine the winner.

ROAD TRIP

The drive on 1-75 and I-10 looked a lot different than last time I went up there. There is a lot of construction to widen and improve the roads. There are also several more developed areas ("developed" means they have a McDonald's!) along the way. I couldn't believe how much standing water there is from the heavy rains! Paine's Prairie outside Gainesville should be renamed Paine's Lake. It is completely underwater, reminiscent of its prehistoric days. The Suwanee River is so high that there is a flood plain about a half mile wide in parts along it. I remember canoeing down the Suwanee with the Boy Scouts in 1986 and how it was so low then, you could see the limestone formations that were typically submerged. We had to drag our canoes over the shallows. Now, it's probably 15+ feet deep. Well, those are my memories of the road to Tallahassee...

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