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Dragons Turn Tables On Rival Bulldogs

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Lake Placid senior captain Antonio Torres 10 celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal in the second half of Friday night's Class 3A-District 8 win over Frostproof at Roger Scarborough Memorial Field.

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By MARK PINSON

Highlands Today

Published: December 7, 2008

LAKE PLACID - The rivalry between the Lake Placid and Frostproof boys soccer teams has always been intense, but fairly one-sided the last few years in the Bulldogs' favor.

But there may be a shift in the balance of power on Friday night after senior forward Antonio Torres scored the lone goal on a direct kick in the second half to lift the Green Dragons to a 1-0 victory at Roger Scarborough Memorial Field.

Lake Placid, which dominated the Class 3A-District 8 match with 12 shots on goal, used a stifling defense to limit the Bulldogs to seven shots to improve to 1-3 overall and 1-2 in district play.

"It always feels good to beat Frostproof," said veteran Green Dragon coach Josh Virkler. "They're one of our big rivals and they always field a solid team.

"We were pretty dominant from the beginning to the end, and this should give our confidence a boost."

The loss dropped the youthful Bulldogs to 1-3-2 and 0-1-2.

"We've only got three seniors and a bunch of younger players," said Frostproof coach Gurney Masters. "We passed the ball and spread the field well, but we just didn't convert our chances.

"We're using a seventh- and eighth-grader as well, and if we continue to work hard, we should be much improved by the district tournament."

Lake Placid limited the quickness of the Bulldog forwards with physical play and strong clearing of the ball by sweeper Kyle Thompson, while junior keeper Ernesto Jimenez made several acrobatic saves late in the game to keep the Green Dragons on top.

"Ernesto has great reflexes and instincts," Virkler said. "He was in the right place at the right time tonight and our defense was solid from back to front."

Lake Placid had several good scoring opportunities in the first 40 minutes but failed to convert from in close.

"I was fairly pleased at halftime because we've been inconsistent and been behind in a lot of our matches," Virkler said. "We played smart, physical soccer from the opening whistle and we made a few tactical adjustments at the half to get people in the right places.

"We kept the pressure on, got the ball to the wings and finally got a ball in the back of the net."

The Green Dragons broke through against the scrappy Bulldogs when Torres was tripped and awarded a direct kick from the right side of the goal from 25 yards out.

Torres drilled a line drive that just cleared the Frostproof keeper's fingers and curved into the upper-left-corner of the goal with 30:08 remaining in the match.

"I practice that kick all the time and I was thinking it's time to get this baby home," said the Lake Placid team captain. "It was a big district win against a good Frostproof team in front of our home fans.

"We just need to keep spreading the field, passing the ball, playing with the same intensity and keep working hard to get better."

Lake Placid is back in action with a district match at Mulberry on Tuesday.

"We came out very flat and lost to Mulberry 4-1 earlier this season," Virkler said. "That was one of our most inconsistent efforts and I think our heads are on right now and we know what we have to do to be successful."

Mark Pinson can be reached at 863-386-5837 or mpinson@highlandstoday.com.

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