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Streaks' Speed Slays Dragons

CHRIS HOFFMAN/HIGHLANDS TODAY

Lake Placid's Zach Lavoy (14) tries to hold off a Sebring defender during Monday's game at Firemen's Field.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: December 12, 2007

SEBRING — Speed has its place on the highway, but nothing slows a team down more than the inability to deal with an opponent that's fleet of foot.

The Lake Placid boys soccer team had no antidote to the team speed of the Sebring boys soccer team, which was quicker to the ball, faster in the open field and were quick on defense in their 4-2 victory over cross-county rival Green Dragons at Firemen's Field.

Sophomore Buck Schroeder's speed was on display early, as he broke away from his man on the left wing and watched his chip shot dribble into the net for the game's first score just four minutes into the contest.

Class 3A Lake Placid was able to counter Schroeder's goal when a shot by sophomore Geovanni Morales slipped through the legs of Ryan Cochran to tie the game with 12 minutes left in the half.

The speed factor came into play late in the first half for Sebring, when Daniel Grimaldo and Pedro Gori scored in a span of two minutes to give the Blue Streaks a 3-1 lead at the half.

Grimaldo's goal came on a breakaway at midfield, which ended with a head fake that got the Green Dragon goalie out of position for the score, while Gori scored moments later on a header off a corner kick that even got Sebring head coach Paul Brown fired up.

"It was nice to get some quick goals and play with a lead for a change at home," Brown said. "[Lake Placid] is a good team but they seemed a bit flat at the start of the game."

Lake Placid head coach Josh Virkler agreed that his team didn't play with the intensity that they did in their first meeting against the Blue Streaks.

"That seems to be our problem lately," the LP head coach said. "We come out flat and then give up some cheap goals. You can't do that against Sebring.

"They [Sebring] have really great speed and are one of the fastest teams around."

The second half was almost an exact opposite of the first, with Lake Placid being the aggressor and the Blue Streaks sitting back and waiting for the action to come to them.

"I don't know why they were playing like that," Brown said. "They have to realize that you can't sit back with a lead, but to keep attacking."

Schroeder didn't need the pep talk about attacking, as his quick feet put him in position for a rebound from Grimaldo's shot for his second goal, but that was the highlight of the second half for the host team, who looked sluggish and out of sync.

A penalty in the goal box at the 50 minute mark gave LP senior captain Hugo Medina a penalty kick that he sent into the lower-left corner of the net to cut the Sebring lead to two, but three more shots on goal were all that Lake Placid could manage throughout, and the Blue Streaks held on for the home win.

"It's good to get a win at home," Brown said. "We gave up that early goal in the second half that gave them new life. But its nice to have a winning record."

The win improves Sebring's record to 6-4-2, while the Green Dragons drop to 1-8 on the season.

Improvement, however, is something that Green Dragon senior Zach Lavoy has seen out of his team the last few games.

"Our communication was really good late in the first and in the second half and that seemed to be the difference for us," Lavoy said. "When we communicate, we put the right people in position to score.

"That second game gave the whole team an adrenaline rush and we were able to put pressure on their defense, but we just couldn't get those early goals back."

Sebring faced off against arch-rival Avon Park on Tuesday. For full results, see Wednesday's Highlands Today.

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