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Dragons Pummel Panthers

Mark Pinson/Highlands Today

Lake Placid junior midfielder Yuribia Terrones heads the ball up the field during the first half of Tuesday night's semifinal match against Mulberry in the Class 3A-District 8 girls soccer tournament in Lakeland.

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By MARK PINSON

Highlands Today

Published: January 22, 2009

LAKELAND - Overcoming frigid conditions and a biting wind, Lake Placid midfielder Yuribia Terrones scored a career-high four goals and forward Erica Resendiz added two of her own on Tuesday night to lead the Green Dragons to a resounding 7-0 victory over Mulberry in the semifinals of the Class 3A-District 8 girls soccer tournament at Southwest Park.

"We had good teamwork and communicated well tonight," Terrones said. "It was cold and the wind was blowing hard, but I just kept moving and once I got warmed up it didn't bother me that much.

"We really want to win the district championship, and we're only one win away."

With the victory, Lake Placid - the district's No. 1 seed - advances to the district finals tonight against the winner of Tuesday night's other semifinal, second-seeded Frostproof.

The win also clinched a spot in the regional quarterfinals next week and a district title gives the Green Dragons a home match, while being district runner-up puts them on the road.

"This is my senior year and we're trying our best to win," Resendiz said. "This is a good team and I'm excited about how we're playing.

"It's awesome to be going to regionals, but we want to be district champions and play a match at home in front of our fans."

Resendiz got things rolling when she corralled a through ball and blasted a shot past the Panther keeper in the sixth minute of play for a 1-0 lead.

Lake Placid, which had 21 shots on goal, kept the pressure on the Mulberry defense and Terrones, on an assist from Resendiz, blasted a shot into the upper-right corner in the 22nd minute for a 2-0 advantage.

The Dragons came out breathing fire in the second half, as Terrones scored off a corner kick by Resendiz in the 42nd minute.

Terrones broke free for two more goals, which gives her a team-high 27 on the season, while Resendiz has a team-leading 18 assists.

"That's the most goals I've ever scored in a match," said Terrones. "It feels awesome to help us win.

"We had good spacing and passing and we have to do the same thing in the finals."

Lake Placid senior Julie Shrewsbury tallied the last goal as the Green Dragons improved to 10-1-2 on the season.

"I'm proud of the girls because it was a cold, windy night and they played hard and executed our game plan," said first-year Lake Placid coach John Merlo. "We missed a few early scoring opportunities because of the cold, but once we got warmed up it kind of all came together for us."

Merlo has enjoyed a successful run in his first year at the Green Dragon helm.

"It's been a great season with what we've accomplished," said the Lake Placid coach. "We're guaranteed two more games, but it would be a lot of fun if we could win the district title and get a home match.

"A home game beats traveling on a bus anytime."

NOTE: Lake Placid split with Frostproof during the regular season.

3A-D8 GIRLS SOCCER TOURNEY

at Southwest Park, Lakeland

District Finals: Lake Placid vs. Frostproof

TONIGHT at 7 p.m.

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

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