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Highlands Today

Blue Streaks Split With Pirates

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Sebring's Buck Schroeder 12 celebrates with Jazan Jimenez after scoring a goal late in the second half of Thursday night's win over Braden River.

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By MARK PINSON

Highlands Today

Published: November 15, 2008

SEBRING - Playing aggressive, physical soccer, the Sebring boys team dominated Braden River by a score of 5-0 on Thursday night at Firemen's Field.

The win improved the Class 4A Blue Streaks to 2-0 in District 10 play, while the loss dropped the Pirates to 1-1.

"We came out strong and fast and kept the pressure on Braden River from the opening whistle," said Sebring senior sweeper Austin Brady. "We communicated well on offense and defense and our conditioning paid off in the second half.

"We've gotten rid of our egos and whatever is best for the team is what we're going to do."

The Blue Streaks, who won their first-ever district soccer championship last year, jumped on top of the Pirates early in the match and never let up.

Sebring junior midfielder Buck Schroeder got things rolling with a goal from 25-yards out to put the Blue Streaks up 1-0 in the 11th minute of the first half.

Senior midfielder Gilberto Santos added to the lead in the 15th minute by taking a through ball and beating the Pirate goalie from the top of the box for a 2-0 advantage.

"We're working as a team and it shows," said senior Jazan Jimenez. "Last year we had a lot of talent but some of the guys were more interested in how many goals they scored.

"We worked all summer on conditioning and all kinds of drills and our goal is to defend our district championship."

Sebring, which had 22 shots on goal, added to its lead when Brady rifled in a penalty kick in the 55th minute and Santos netted his second goal of the night with 25 minutes remaining.

"We're playing strong defense, making good passes and spreading the field," said Brady. "We've got good depth and when one of us gets tired, another good player takes our place.

"We know other teams are coming after us because we're defending champs, but that's fine because we're up for the challenge."

Schroeder capped the scoring in the closing minutes by taking a pass and beating several Pirate defenders off the dribble before blasting a shot into the lower right-corner to seal the district win.

"The guys did a great job tonight," said Sebring first-year coach Tim Boulay. "Our midfield is really strong and we've got speed and goal scorers on the wings.

"This is a solid group and as long as we work hard to improve and not get overconfident, we'll do fine."

The Blue Streaks play at Lake Placid on Monday.

Girls Soccer: Braden River 3, Sebring 0

With leading scorer Amanda Grimaldo in goal for most of the match and Ricky Albritton and Maxine Copley not playing, the Sebring girls soccer team was at a distinct disadvantage against Braden River on Thursday night.

The Pirates, who had 21 shots, got a goal from Kristen Hoff in the 34th minute and Courtney Tschiggfrie added two goals in a 3-0 win over the Blue Streaks.

The Class 4A-District 10 win improved Braden River to 2-0, while the loss dropped Sebring to 1-1.

"I'm proud of the girls for hanging in there against an experienced Braden River team," said Blue Streak coach Steve Ashley. "We were missing two starters and didn't have our usual lineup and that hurt us.

"We're young, but we've got some skill players to build around and we're going to improve with each match we play."

Sebring is back in action with a home match against Clewiston on Monday night.

Thursday Night's Soccer Scores

Boys

Sebring 5, Braden River 0

Girls

Braden River 3, Sebring 0

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

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