Western Conference semfinals

Brandon, Durant get late goals to reach WC finals

By JEREMY RASMUSSEN
Times Correspondent

TAMPA - Durant and Brandon each scored late goals to win their respective semifinal matches on Thursday and advance to tonight's Western Conference final.

In the first game, Brandon converted a penalty kick in the 80th minute to squeak past host Leto 3-2.

In the late game, Durant's Jamin Hollingsworth launched a 35-yard bomb with two minutes to play to give Brandon a 4-3 edge, and Pat Wehrle's finish with a minute to play put the exclamation mark on the Cougars' 5-3 victory over King.

Leto (12-5-1) struck first in its match on a header by Edisson Cantor, but Brandon (11-3-2) wrested back the lead with goals by Tim Sobczak and Rusty Rousch.

"Those were two of the prettiest goals we've had all season,'' Brandon coach Allen Ware said. "We had the two-touch passing going down the field and nice finishes. But then, we just went flat in the second half.''

Leto's constant pressure in the second half paid off when it put away a ball the Eagles failed to clear out of the back.

In the final minute, however, Rousch was fouled in the box, and John Lenhart nailed the penalty kick for the win.

Durant (11-2-4) had its biggest offensive output since a 6-1 win over Plant in December. The Cougars struck first two minutes into the game when Hollingsworth finished on a pass from Josh Cline.

A minute later, however, the Lions (10-5) got the equalizer when Lonnie Houston notched his 25th goal of the season on a cross from Brandon Cron.

Houston returned the favor midway through the first half, assisting on a through pass to Cron for the finish and a 2-1 lead.

Cline then got a pair of goals to put Durant up 3-2 at the half. On the first, Wehrle worked his way through the King defense and found Cline wide open on the far post. On the second, Cline knocked in the deflection off Grant Outlaw's shot.

In the second half, Durant goalie Blake Dickinson came up with several big saves on breakaway chances by Houston and Cron to keep the Cougars in the game, but Mehran Mastafavifar's penalty kick with 10 minutes to play tied it at 3-3.

"I felt like we were as good as (Durant) tonight,'' King coach Dave Outlaw said. "We've shown we can play with the big dogs. I'm tired of that. Now, I want us to show that we can win against the big dogs.''

The the final mark the third meeting between Durant and Brandon this season. Ironically, Durant tied the Eagles 1-1 at home on a last minute penalty kick earlier.