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Tigers Too Much For Red Devils

Thacker Steps Down As Coach

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Red Devil senior Ciara Lowrie slides for the takeaway in the first half of the Class 4A-District 10 semifinal game.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: January 17, 2008

PALMETTO — If the Avon Park girls soccer team wanted a blueprint of where they want to evolve in the coming years, they need only take a good look at the machine that is the Palmetto Tigers.

The top-seeded Tigers pounced on the Red Devils from the onset, scoring seven minutes into the game and not letting up until they'd walked away with an 8-0 mercy-rule victory over the No. 4 seed Avon Park in the semifinals of the Class 4A-District 10 tournament at Harllee Stadium on Tuesday.

Palmetto were methodical in its attack and used precision passing to systematically dismantle the Red Devil defense, showing the obvious differences in skill level.

Avon Park head coach Greg Thacker wasn't surprised at the outcome, as he watched the Tigers playing a different game at times than his Red Devils.

"Palmetto is a great team," Thacker said. "You can tell that they put in the time year-round and are dedicated to this sport."

Most of the Palmetto squad are on traveling teams that play tournaments throughout the year, while Avon Park sometimes has trouble fielding a team; AP disbanded its junior varsity team halfway through the season.

"Travel ball is huge in the development of a good team," Thacker said. "I'm proud of my girls and they really stepped up when the chips were down late in the season, but [Palmetto] is on a different level than they are."

Thacker said rebuilding the team with a young nucleus won't be hard with the experience that the girls who started the year on junior varsity received at the varsity level, but it isn't a project he'll be around to undertake.

The third-year Red Devil coach announced that he's stepping down after the loss.

"I began teaching middle school, and I'm itching to get back to it," Thacker said. "I'll still be down in Florida, but I don't know if that means I'll still be in Highlands County or not."

Palmetto wasted little time against the Red Devil defense.

Tiger sophomore Marisol Valente scored on a deflection by Avon Park goalie Krystazsia Allong for the first score of the game, and moments later, freshman Irene Gallardo sped past the Red Devil defense on the left side and her top-shelf shot gave Palmetto a 2-0 lead.

But the offensive barrage wasn't over by a long shot.

Senior Holly Christensen was an offensive machine for the Tigers, scoring four goals in the first half, as her teammates found her in front of the goal time and time again. On one play, Gallardo wove past two Red Devil defenders and found Christensen in stride. Christensen then put the shot in the top right corner of the net for her third score of the game.

Red Devil senior Missy Lander got the only shot on goal for Avon Park on a direct kick that was cleared by the Palmetto defense late in the first half.

Avon Park senior captain Julie Lamb was disappointed by her team's performance against Palmetto in the final game of her soccer career. She said the Tigers were "a superior team."

"I really wanted to go out with a better showing," Lamb said. "We didn't come out pumped up or with the energy we needed to. I wish we could have played at their level, but we just don't have that kind of talent base."

Lamb's tone changed from disappointment to sorrow when asked about her final time putting on the Red Devil soccer jersey.

"I loved the sport so much," Lamb said. "We weren't the best during my time at Avon Park but we came together so much as a team. I am going to miss soccer because it was so much fun, even more so than softball.

"I just wish it could have ended on a better note."

Palmetto's Alyssa Webler scored the final two goals to end the Red Devil season in the 54th minute.
After the loss, Thacker looked back on his time as the Red Devil coach and noted he isn't leaving the cupboard bare for his successor.

"There is some real talent on this team," Thacker said. "Sheila [Figueroa] and Chquen [Wilmot] and Krystaszia are all sophomores and are all raw. They just need someone to corral that talent and develop it.

"This team will be just fine."

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