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Lake Placid, McKeel Run To Stalemate

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Lake Placid's Tara Weeks fights for the ball against McKeel Academy's Brooke Phillips during Tuesday's game.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: December 6, 2007

LAKE PLACID — Scoring chances in soccer are hard to come by, and when opportunity comes knocking, you have to be there to answer the door.

The Lake Placid Green Dragons girls soccer team let a gift-wrapped opportunity slip away in a 0-0 tie with the Class 3A-District 8 foe McKeel Academy of Lakeland at Roger Scarborough Stadium on Tuesday.

Christmas came early for the Green Dragons at the 60 minute mark of the match, when a hand ball inside the box penalty by McKeel Academy set up a penalty kick for the Lake Placid.

Ali Lopez and Wildcat goalie Kara Watson stared each other down, waiting for the whistle to blow in the chilly night air. Reminiscent of the start of a track meet, Lopez raced to the ball when the official sounded for play to begin, her kick sailing toward the upper-right part of the net, but Watson batted the shot down and recovered the ball to end LP's chances to steal a win.

"You have to make those shots," LP head coach Liz Sottile said. "We had some great opportunities to win this game, but couldn't capitalize on them."

Lake Placid improves its record to 2-3-2 on the season, while McKeel is 5-5-1.

Defensive play from both teams kept scoring chances to a minimum, with the Wildcat defender Haley Gilliam patrolling from sideline to sideline in front of her goal, singlehandedly breaking up numerous odd-man rushes by the Green Dragons.

Lake Placid goalie Sydney Stewart did a tremendous job defensively in net, stopping five McKeel shots, including a diving save on a breakaway by Wildcat forward Brooke Phillips seconds before half time.

"[Sydney] played her heart out," Sottile said. "She has been making saves like that all season and is a real leader for this team."

Green Dragon forward Rachel Cameron had Lake Placid's other real chance to score, taking a pass from Erica Resendiz at midfield and dribbling down to the goalie box before a sliding save by Gilliam knocked the ball out of bounds, with the ensuing corner kick being cleared by the Wildcats to end the threat.

Lake Placid is back on the field Friday, when they travel to face district rival Frostproof at Bulldog Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

BOYS SOCCER: Sebring 0, Palmetto 0

PALMETTO — The Sebring boys soccer team played to tough defensive battle with Class 4A-District 10 rival Palmetto on Tuesday, but could only walk away with a scoreless tie.

"They played really well tonight," SHS head coach Paul Brown said. "We were back on defense for 2/3 of the game and only had a couple of scoring chances.

"Palmetto always has a good squad, but I thought we matched up with them quite evenly. We just couldn't get the ball in the net."

Sebring improves to 4-4-2 overall and 1-1-1 in district play.

The tie keeps the Blue Streaks unbeaten on the road this season, with Sebring traveling to face Braden River on Thursday to keep the streak rolling.

"Our record should be better than it is," Brown said. "We had some individual mistakes that cost us a couple of games at home. You always want to play your best at home."

BOYS SOCCER: McKeel 1, Lake Placid 0

LAKELAND — McKeel scored a goal in the opening minute and hung on for the next 79 as the Wildcats defended their home pitch and held off the Lake Placid boys soccer team on Tuesday night 1-0 in Class 3A-District 8 action.

"We dominated the whole game," said LP coach Josh Virkler, noting his team outshot McKeel 20-10. "We pressed and had some good chances, but we aren't finishing."

The Dragons (1-6, 0-3) host Frostproof on Friday.

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