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Highlands Today

Dragons Draw With Streaks

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Sebring's Gustavio Galvan 18 and Elisha Klatt go to the air to intercept the ball from a Lake Placid player during Monday's cross county rivalry at Firemen's Field.

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By CHRIS HOFFMAN

Highlands Today

Published: January 14, 2009

SEBRING - Vicente Ramos stood still awaiting the referee's whistle that would set the upcoming game-changing sequence into motion.

The Lake Placid junior then blasted the penalty kick off the hands of Sebring's Ryan Cochran, who made a great block, but Ramos followed the first rule of soccer by following his own shot and put the rebound in the net with under two minutes left in the game to earn LP a 1-1 tie over cross county rival Sebring at Firemen's Field on Monday.

The Green Dragons showed off a much-improved look that saw them be more aggressive, especially in the second half, to match the Streaks physical-style of play.

"We had a lot of scoring chances in the second half and I think a tie is a fair result from tonight's game," LP head coach Josh Virkler said. "We did a much better job dealing with their strength, especially when the ball was in the air.

"I think we're getting the ball into scoring position, but we're not getting that last pass to get the ball into the box and put more points on the board."

Sebring, which looked polished in the first half, didn't walk away unscathed, as the Streaks lost starting midfielder Troy Talbert just before halftime.

The SHS junior collided with a Lake Placid player near midfield and immediately went down and after being down for nearly 20 minutes, he was taken away in an ambulance.

No update on his condition was given at press time. His status is listed as day-to-day.

Losing Talbert for possibly the rest of the season could be a huge blow to a Sebring team that could be seeded anywhere from the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the upcoming Class 4A-District 10 tournament.

"It hurts losing Troy," said Sebring's Buck Shroeder. "He always plays hard and Coach Tim Boulay will have to make some adjustments to fill that void.

"I know I'll help the team anyway I can. I'll move and play midfield if Coach needs me to."

Boulay didn't offer any definite plans for moving around his lineup on the field, but understands that injuries are a part of the game and everyone on the team will have to step up.

"It does hurt losing Troy because he had a definite height advantage and that helped win a lot of balls for us," Boulay said. "This just means that players will have to step up and we'll shuffle the lineup as needed if and when we hear how serious the injury to Troy is."

Sebring's first half intensity was relentless, as the Streaks forwards pounded LP goalie Ernesto Jimenez with countless shots, but the Green Dragon junior was able to fend off the frenzy to give his team a glimmer of hope.

"Ernesto has played great and is a real bright spot for us," Virkler said. "He makes a lot of great saves and has kept us in so many games this season just by his work in the net."

Jimenez had a nice save on a direct kick by Schroeder and he snagged the ball at the last second off a header by Talbert to rob the Streaks of certain goals to leave the game scoreless at half time.

But Schroeder wasn't to be denied, as the Streaks leading scorer, who was leading a 3-on-2 breakaway, received a perfect centering pass from Elisha Klatt on the left side and put the ball into the top right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead at the 49-minute mark.

"I got a really nice set up from Elisha and I just knew the ball would be there and I was able to put it in the net," Schroeder said. "We've gotten out of our slump and have really been playing well together. I like our team and I like our chances going into districts."

Neither team could get the upper hand in the second half until Ramos was brought down in Sebring's goalie box and he converted the penalty kick into the game-tying goal.

"I thought we played a really good game," Boulay said. "But we let up a bit near the end and it cost us. We can't let those mental lapses happen, especially when we play a team like Palmetto or Braden River.

"We have to stay sharp until the whistle blows."

Sebring is back on the field Friday when they travel to face Frostproof, while Lake Placid hosts Clewiston on Thursday.

Both games begin at 7:30 p.m.

Chris Hoffman can be reached at 863-386-5837 or choffman@highlandstoday.com.

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