published: Thursday, November 26, 2009

Eustis blasts Ocoee, 8-1

BENJAMIN ROODE

Correspondent

EUSTIS -- The Eustis Panthers girls soccer team trounced the Ocoee Knights 6-3 Tuesday, bouncing back from their first loss of the season the night before.

Panthers sophomore forward Alika Keene scored two goals in the first half, and freshman forward Erica DeLuca scored once in each half to power the Panthers, 8-1, 4-0 in district. Freshman defender Cindy Buchner and senior Tana Hardin both added goals. Freshman goalkeeper Alyssa Kaminski, playing for an injured Alyssa Sapp, had eight saves.

It was a good bounce-back win, said Panthers head coach Wayne Lockett.

"We were good playing across the goal," said Lockett of the numerous feeding passed from senior midfielder Tana Hardin, who had three assists on the night. "We opened to a quick start, and (the Panthers) just had to keep going."

Keene scored in the game's first minute, taking a pass from Hardin and knocking one in from the left side of goal to take almost as early a lead as is possible in high school soccer. DeLuca followed three minutes later with a strike into an open net, the first of two Eustis scores taking advantage of the Ocoee goaltender's propensity to be drawn out on phantom passes.

The Panthers had four goals before Ocoee was able to notch the scoreboard, a break away strike by Knights senior forward Micah Brown. Eustis scored again to take a 5-1 half-time lead.

Knights head coach Prince Borde was happy with his team's second-half performance despite early blunders.

"If it weren't for the first 20 minutes, the game would have been a lot different," Borde said.

Ocoee jumped out early in the second, with Brown scoring again on a speedy break away to cut Eustis' lead to three. A stingy Panthers midfield defense slowed the game and helped eat clock. Both teams added scores before the final whistle.

Eustis finished the game with 16 shots, nine on goal. Ocoee launched 15 shots, 10 of which were on target.

The Panthers were coming off their first loss of the year, a 6-2 fall to Oveido Monday night. Tuesday's win kept the Panthers undefeated in district play and was a good footing for a team down to only one substitute thanks to early-season injuries, Lockett said.

"We picked ourselves up from last night," he said.

Eustis plays again Dec. 1 at Harmony High School near St. Cloud.