B6 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2013 CITRUS COUNTY (FL) CHRONICLESPORTS

Citrus claimsAwareness game’Canes downCR in benefit

for cancerJAMES BLEVINS

Correspondent

INVERNESS — In lastyear’s charity girls soccergame, the Crystal River Pi-rates and the Citrus Hurri-canes had things all tiedup at the half and only onelate-game goal, with 10minutes left on the clock,decided the outcome inthe Lady Pirates’ favor.

But this year, the SixthAnnual Breast CancerAwareness game was de-cided a lot earlier, as threefirst-half goals by the Lady’Canes were enough to holdoff a second-half push bythe Pirates to win the con-test 3-1 on Thursday nightin Hurricane Stadium.

The game was also a Dis-trict 3A-7 matchup, as bothschools share a districtafter Crystal River movedup from Class 2A in 2013.

Citrus is seeded fifth inthe district while CrystalRiver (3-12-1 overall, 3-11-1 district) recentlymoved behind the ’Canesin the sixth seed positionafter defeating the CentralBears on Dec. 17.

Citrus (9-9-2, 8-6-2)started with immediatepossession of the ball andearly pressure in the Pi-rate defensive zone.

“We did a great job step-ping up in the first half,doing what we needed todo early and sort of settingthe tone,” Citrus headcoach Mark Cassidy said.

This early pressure re-sulted in the first Hurri-cane goal in the ninthminute by HannahSchmidt off an accuratepass by Malene Pedersen(one goal and one assist)from across the goal face.Schmidt received the passand punched home thegoal into an open net.

Pedersen added a goalof her own in the33rd minute, unassisted,while Citrus forward JesseLamar punched home thefinal Hurricane goal of the

half in stoppage time from20 yards out for the 3-0lead at the break.

Crystal River goalkeeperKrystina Hartwell (ninesaves) had an excellentgame in net for the Piratesdespite the loss. The gamecould have had a muchworse complexion if not forseveral key saves Hartwellmade off Hurricane break-aways in the first half.

Katlyn Marks mindedthe net for the ’Canes andcame up with eight savesof her own.

The ’Canes easily out-shot the Pirates in the firsthalf 10-3 but Crystal Riverentered the second 40-minute half with an en-tirely different attitudeand looked like a com-pletely different team.

“Things changed in thesecond half,” Cassidy saidof Crystal River’s play.“The adjustments theymade worked and reallygot us off our game and theball spent way too muchtime in our half.”

Crystal River outshotCitrus 7-6 in the secondhalf and scored their firstand only goal in the70th minute as forwardMorgan Heckman fed a ric-ocheted post shot back to awaiting Ginger Hutchin-son, who buried the goal.

“I think the second halfwas a much better effort,”Crystal River head coachBill Reyes said. “Weoutscored them (in the sec-ond half) 1-0 and that’sgood. But we didn’t play afull 80-minute game andthat is reflected on thescoreboard.

“Hopefully, we’ll con-tinue to grow and learnfrom the second half thatmaybe we can hang withsome of these betterteams,” Reyes continued.“And Citrus is definitelyone of the better teams inthe district.”

“(Tonight) was a typicalCrystal River-Citrusmatch,” Cassidy said of therivalry. “We were able tostabilize it towards the endand limit their runs (to ourzone) a little bit.

“But it was a lot closerthan 3-1 (suggests),” Cas-sidy added. “We’re gratefulfor a win.”

Ekeli snags200th victoryCoach watchesCitrus teamrout CR 8-0DAVID PIEKLIK

Correspondent

CRYSTAL RIVER —The Citrus Hurricanesboys soccer team gavehead coach Steve Ekeli his200th career high schoolwin in convincing fashionThursday with a 8-0 dis-trict victory over CrystalRiver.

Austin Wilcoxon scoredfour goals and JoshuaMarsden added a hat trickas theH u r r i -c a n e su s e dt h e i rspeed tog e taroundthe Pi-r a t e smidfielda n dkeep pressure on its de-fense all game. The winimproves the ’Canes to 11-2-1 overall and 10-2-1 inDistrict 3A-7; the Piratesfell to 3-13 overall and 2-11in the district.

After the game, Ekeliwas congratulated for hisaccomplishment by the Pi-rates’ public address an-nouncer as fans for bothteams applauded.

Ekeli has a lot of respectfor the Pirates and headcoach Bobby Verlato, whohe used to coach alongsidewith several years ago be-fore taking over the pro-gram at Citrus.

“To win the 200th gamehere is special because Ihave a lot of good memo-

ries here,” he said.Verlato said he learned

a lot from Ekeli, and washappy for him.

“Congratulations tocoach Ekeli on his mile-stone… he deserves thewin,” Verlato said.

The ’Canes jumped outquickly in the game withWilcoxon scoring on aMarsden corner kick justunder seven minutes intothe first half; Wilcoxon’ssecond goal came less thanfive minutes later and the’Canes never let up.

Marsden scored on apenalty kick in stoppagetime, his 21st goal of theseason. By the time thefirst-half whistle sounded,the Pirates had not put a

shot ong o a l .T h i n g sd i d n ’ timprovemuch inthe sec-ond half,w i t hCrystalR i v e rs t r u g -

gling to get the ball pastmidfield.

The ’Canes were able toconsistently work the ballfrom the middle of thepitch to the outside andcapitalize on the quick-ness of Marsden andWilcoxon, making it anightmare for Pirates goal-keepers.

Though opposing teamsoften take measures tolimit Marsden’s produc-tion, Ekeli said Wilcoxon isjust as much as a threat.

“When Austin Wilcoxonis in the open field withthe ball on his foot,” Ekekisaid, “there’s not too manyguys that are going to runhim down.”

To win the200th game here is

special...Steve Ekeli

Citrus coach said of notching the feat at

Crystal River, where he previously coached.

“ “

JAMES BLEVINSCorrespondent

Speedy, left-footedforward ChristinaBresson has played

for the Crystal River Pi-rate girls’ soccer team forthe past two seasons, lead-ing her Pirate team ingoals last year with 15,and continuing to pacethe Pirates with eightgoals so far this yearthrough Nov. 18.

As of Monday, Bresson,17, ranked fifth overall onthe scoring depth chart inCitrus County behindLecanto’s dual threat ofStephanie Bandstra (21)and Lexi Moore (13) andCitrus’ goal scoring duo ofTaylor Falabella (11) andexchange student MalenePedersen (9).

When it comes to scoringgoals, Bresson acknowl-edges the personal sense ofaccomplishment she getsfrom it, but is quick to sayhow that enjoyment alsostems from helping herteam win games.

“It’s more of a motiva-tion thing,” Bresson said.“Because I want (to score

lots of goals) but everytime I get a goal, I knowI’m benefitting the team.

“And at the same timeI’m racking up my points,”Bresson added with alaugh.

“My goal is to be a teamleader and someone theteam looks up to,” Bressonsaid. “(I want to) keep mytop spot as top-pointscorer, too. That’s alwaysrewarding at the end ofthe season.”

Originally from Mel-bourne, Bresson moved toCitrus County when shewas in kindergarten. Ahome-schooled student,Bresson missed out on herfreshman year playing forthe Lady Pirates, despitemaking the team, due topaperwork issues.

Despite the delay, Bres-son immediately madeher presence felt as asophomore and turnedmany heads, includinghead coach Bill Reyes, inthe process.

“She was our leadingscorer last year and she’sour leading scorer thisyear, so obviously she hasnatural abilities in the

speed department,” Reyessaid of Bresson. “But shedoesn’t sit on her laurels,she works very hard andshe’s one of the toughestgirls we have on the team.”

Bresson started playingsoccer in recreationalleagues around Mel-bourne when she was four,before moving up to morecompetitive leagues in Cit-rus County, such as CitrusUnited, as a teenager.

Bresson has her sightsset on joining the medicalfield as a physician’s as-sistant after graduation,looking to possibly attendthe University of SouthFlorida.

“A lot of my life is justsoccer and work,” Bres-son said smiling, “andschool.”

Crystal River lost ninestarting seniors at the endof its 2012-13 campaign,leaving the current sea-son as more of a rebuild-ing year for the LadyPirates as they find them-selves in a stacked andcompetitive District 3A-7with mostly lowerclass-men taking the field.

“Last year I guess we

had more talent,” Bressonsaid of last season’s Class2A regional quarterfinalqualifying team. “Thisyear, everyone has theirown talent, we just have tofigure out how to growand work as a team andget it all together at thesame time.”

With such a young team,veterans like Bresson be-come key leaders and setexamples of how to playon the high school levelfor future starters.

Her experience as a Pi-rate ace forward seems tobe of vital importance toBresson when asked whather strongest attribute tothe team is.

“I know a lot of theyounger (players) look upto me just because I haveexperience and I’ve beenon the team (longer),”Bresson said. “I justthink my experience andmy knowledge from beingon varsity before helps a lot.

“But physically, I guess(it’s) my speed,” Bressoncontinued. “My speed con-tributes greatly, especiallyas a forward.”

STEPHEN E. LASKO/For the Chronicle

Crystal River junior Christina Bresson, right, leads the Pirates with eight goals this season after pacing the teamwith 15 during the 2012-13 campaign.

Crystal River’s Bresson leads team with goals and experience

Dolphins’ amazing turnaroundAssociated Press

By now the Miami Dolphins’ sea-son was supposed to be over, withlittle left to do but make sure quar-terback Ryan Tannehill still had allhis body parts and the NFL had ananswer for what really went on inthe locker room.

But something happened on theway to another losing record. Some-thing clicked just when everythingseemed to be falling apart after a300-pound offensive lineman left theteam saying he had been bullied.

Columnists, opponents and fansquestioned the team’s leadership,saying the coaches had ceded con-trol to guard Richie Incognito andhis bad-boy antics. But instead ofimploding, the Dolphins came to-gether. Instead of tanking, theyfound ways to win.

“Kind of a blessing in disguise,”tackle Bryant McKinnie said.

Now the Dolphins are squarely inthe playoff hunt, a surprise teampeaking at just the right time. Withtwo very winnable games left theycontrol their own destiny in a sea-son when they couldn’t even controlthe locker room.

Players say coach Joe Philbin’scalm response to the November cri-sis put them on the winning path.

“Adversity is either going to makeyour team strong because theleader is going to rally and pulleveryone together, or make you dis-integrate because the leader is pan-icking,” said Patrick Lencioni, whowrites on leadership and teambuilding in business. “Clearly hedid not panic.”

The team was floundering even

before Jonathan Martin walked outand Incognito was sent packing.The Dolphins had lost four straightgames to fall to 3-4, and the uproarover bullying threatened to furtherfracture a fragile team.

Owner Stephen Ross expressedhis outrage.

“Changes need to be made,” hesaid.

But changes weren’t made, atleast big ones. Replacements werebrought in for Martin and Incognitoand they proved capable. Thecoaching staff remained intact andgeneral manager Jeff Ireland stillhas his job.

But as NFL investigators traveled

to Miami to interview everyoneabout what Incognito said or did toMartin, other things began to change.

Miami started to win. The line,with backups replacing Martin andIncognito, gave up fewer sacks andopened up more room to run.

And on Sunday, a fill-in safetyplaying his first NFL game inter-cepted a pass in the end zone to sealan upset over New England and putthe Dolphins in the driver’s seat fortheir first playoff appearance infive years.

“With all the distractions, every-body still wanted to win,” McKinniesaid. “We found a way to remain focused.”

Associated Press

On the way to another losing season, Mike Wallace and the Miami Dolphinshad something click just when everything seemed to be falling apart.