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Wildcats edge Dragons

Mark Pinson, Highlands Today

Lake Placid's Michelle Hunter (6) manuevers the ball in front of McKeel Academy's Aylssa Zellars (1) as teammate Jessica Landers (16) looks on during the first half of Monday night's Class 3A-District 9 match at Roger Scarborough Memorial Field.

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By MARK PINSON

Highlands Today

Published: November 11, 2009

LAKE PLACID - McKeel Academy junior forward Morgan Mumbauer scored a second-half goal and senior midfielder Jordan Meche tallied a late score to pace the Wildcats to a 2-0 win over Lake Placid in girls soccer on Monday night at Roger Scarborough Memorial Field.

The Class 3A-District 9 victory improved McKeel Academy (Lakeland) to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in district play, while the loss dropped the Green Dragons to 1-2, 1-1.

"It was a very even match and we've only had one practice with all of the girls and it showed against McKeel," said Lake Placid coach John Merlo. "Some of the girls just finished swimming and volleyball and we need to get on the practice field and see what we've got.

"We did a lot of shifting and moved the girls to different positions to see how we looked and the more we play the quicker we're going to improve."

Lake Placid, which made it to the regional quarterfinals last year, has a solid nucleus of players back from that squad and the Green Dragons will need time to build the team chemistry that's a key ingredient to success on the pitch.

Lake Placid took advantage of a strong wind at its back in the first half of Monday night's contest and peppered McKeel's goalie with numerous shots.

The Green Dragons, who had eight shots on goal, had a couple of good scoring opportunities by midfielder Yuribia Terrones sail just over the crossbar.

Terrones, who was one of the top goal scorers in the Heartland last year from her forward position, was playing midfielder against the Wildcats.

"I liked the work of our forwards, especially in the first half," said Merlo. "Yuribia is a special player and I'd like to have her at forward, but we had her at midfield tonight because we had girls in different positions.

"Britney Collison had a great match at stopper and Sarah Thompson was outstanding in goal."

After a scoreless first half, McKeel Academy, which kept the pressure on Thompson throughout the match and had 23 shots on goal, finally broke through midway through the second half of the district contest.

Mumbauer took a through ball and rifled a shot from just outside the 18-yard box that hit the crossbar and dropped down across the goal line for a score and a 1-0 lead for the Wildcats with 20:12 remaining in the hard-fought match.

Terrones managed to break free from several McKeel defenders and the quick-footed senior had several good looks at the goal, but her shots were well defended by the McKeel keeper.

The Wildcats added to their lead when Meche was fouled and had a free kick from about 30-yards out.

Meche managed to hit a laser shot that just cleared Thompson's outstretched fingers to give McKeel a commanding 2-0 lead with 3:43 remaining in the match.

Lake Placid refused to quit and controlled the action the remainder of the match, but the Green Dragons failed to find the back of the net against a talented McKeel squad.

"Sarah has great instincts in the goal and really kept us in the match," Merlo said. "It's very early in the season and it's going to take some time to find our rhythm.

"That was our best first half of the season and with a fairly young team, it's just a matter of us gaining match experience."

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

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