Dragons Blank Devils

LAKE PLACID -- After going through last season where goals were hard to come by, the Lake Placid boys soccer team erupted in Tuesday night's match against Avon Park.

The Green Dragons, who improved to 1-1 on the season, scored early and often in cruising to a 5-0 win over the Red Devils at Roger Scarborough Memorial Field.

"We had a good effort and scored a couple of quality goals," Lake Placid coach Josh Virkler said. "We stayed organized, got forward pretty fast and if it wasn't for an outstanding effort by the Avon Park goalie, we would have scored a bunch more.

"Our guys needed that one game where we bagged a couple of goals and found out that they could score, because we lost a lot of close games last year because we couldn't put the ball in the back of the net."

Lake Placid, which dominated play, took the lead when Antonio Torres found the back of the net six minutes into the match.

Vicente Ramos was able to blast a shot past Red Devil keeper Sergio Durand to make it 2-0 with 11 minutes gone in the contest.

"We passed the ball well and communicated with each other, and that's what we have to continue to do to be successful," Virkler said. "I would have liked to see us finish some of the scoring opportunities in the second half, but the effort was good."

Arnulfo Diaz got into the scoring column with a blast past Durand to up the advantage to 3-0 with 23:24 remaining in the first half.

Kyle Thompson scored with 17:07 left in the half and Stefan Jones capped the furious first-half pace with a header off a corner kick to give the Green Dragons a 5-0 lead at the half.

"We're still not in top condition, but I thought we passed the ball well and set each other up pretty well," said LP co-captain Jose Resendiz. "We are communicating and playing better than last year and I think our best soccer is ahead of us."

Lake Placid continued to pepper the Avon Park goal with shots in the second half, but Durand, who had 15 saves, made several acrobatic stops to keep his team in the game.

"We were more aggressive in the second half and Sergio is an outstanding goalie," said first-year Red Devil coach Jocelyn Simplice. "Our players gave good effort, but we lack experience and we're learning each time we step on the field."

The loss dropped Avon Park to 0-2 on the season, but Simplice saw a lot of positives in the contest.

"It's good for us to play a talented team like Lake Placid, because that shows us what our strengths and weaknesses are and we can work on those things," Simplice said. "We have a very young team and this is my first year as coach, so we are learning together.

"I am going to be patient with the team and we hope to improve with each match we play and that's all I can ask."

Boys Soccer

Sebring 6, Clewiston 2

CLEWISTON -- Daniel Grimaldo's two goals helped pace the Sebring Blue Streaks to a win over the Clewiston Tigers on Tuesday.

Grimaldo's first goal tied the match at 2 in the first half, as both teams played even through the first 40 minutes. The Blue Streaks broke open the match with a four-goal explosion late in the game to secure the win.

"I thought we passed the ball well and are finally starting to put it all together," Blue Streak head coach Paul Brown said. "This is a good squad and hopefully this win will kick start this program going into our game against Lake Placid."

Sebring travels to face the Green Dragons tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Roger Scarborough Memorial Field.

Nick Peters, Jazan Jimenez, Joseph Lezama and Gilberto Santos all scored for the Blue Streaks.

Girls Soccer

Avon Park 6, Hardee 0

AVON PARK -- Senior Missy Lander scored two goals to spark the Avon Park Red Devils to their first win of the season over the Hardee Wildcats in a Class 4A-District 10 match-up on Tuesday at Joe Franza Stadium.

Lander was moved from defense to the forward position, giving the Red Devils a noticeable upgrade and offensive push that created scoring opportunities that were not there in previous games.

"I'm really proud of the girls," Lander said. "It was a big adjustment for me [moving to forward], but I fell into a rhythm and good things started happening."

Avon Park improved to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the district.

The Red Devils, who hadn't scored a goal coming into the match against Hardee, got their first of the season eight minutes into the match. Senior Julie Lamb blasted a shot on goal, but it bounced off the cross bar right to Alex Brock, who followed up with a goal.

Lander increased the lead to 2-0 at the midway point of the first half, with a neatly-placed shot to the top-right of the goal.

Avon Park is back in action tonight when they travel to face the DeSoto Bulldogs at 7 p.m.

Braden River 8, Sebring 0

SEBRING -- The one-two punch of forward Nikki Gainey and midfielder Amanda Peterson was too much for the Sebring Blue Streaks on Tuesday night.

Gainey scored three goals and Peterson's ball control and passing kept feeding her teammate in the Class 4A-District 10 mercy-rule win over the Streaks at Firemen's Field.

"We made way too many mental mistakes and didn't play good at all," Sebring head coach Steve Ashley said. "We had no answer for those two [Gainey and Peterson]. They can hurt you from anywhere on the field."

Gainey demonstrated that talent by rocketing a shot from midfield that found its way into the net for the score.

The Streaks were without the services of leading scorer Amanda Grimaldo for most of the match, who was sidelined with a foot injury. Her status is day-to-day.

Without Grimaldo on the field, Sebring managed only eight shots on goal, but Ashley saw improvement in the loss.

"I was really impressed with the play of Destiny Wise," Sebring coach said. "I thought she picked her game up and wasn't play as tentative as I thought she has been lately."

Sebring hosts the Hardee Wildcats tonight at 6 p.m.