Streaks, Devils Renew Rivalry

The uniforms have all the scars from the ups and downs of the regular season, and now the real fun begins.

Sebring and Avon Park renew their rivalry on their district's biggest biggest stage tonight, as they meet in the opening round of the Class 4A-District 10 tournament at Palmetto at 8 p.m.

Sebring head coach Steve Ashley says his team is finally starting to show a moniker of confidence after the late season injury to sophomore and leading scorer Amanda Grimaldo that left the Streaks searching for answers.

"We're a very different team without Amanda in the lineup," Ashley said. "I know soccer is a team sport, but it's been tough for the girls during practice since Amanda's name has come up a number of times.

"We've just had to carry on and find those girls that are willing to step up."

Grimaldo was carted off the field in the last meeting between the two teams in the Streaks 7-0 win over the Devils on Dec. 16.

In that game, Grimaldo turned to avoid an Avon Park defender and fell to the grass in pain while her teammates rushed to her side in a moment that put a damper on an otherwise solid performance by Sebring.

"I was there with Amanda when she was injured and when she told me she felt something pop, and I remembered that I said the same thing," said Lisa Pryzchocki, who sat out most of last year with a knee injury. "I just hoped it was nothing serious."

Grimaldo will be sidelined with multiple knee injuries for six to nine months, as she'll undergo surgery and then an intense rehab.

Seniors Maxime Copey and Pryzchocki have taken on the offensive workload left in the wake of Grimaldo's injury and will be called upon to lead the Streaks in what they hope will be a long playoff run.

"We're confident going into the tournament and I think we're finally playing together as a team," Copley said. "When Amanda was in the lineup, I think we relied too much on her to bail us out. We'd let her take the lead and we'd back her up, but now, we had to learn to feed off each other and take advantage of the talent we have on this team."

Ashley likes the leadership that the pair provides to the team and will be called upon during the tournament run more than ever.

"Lisa has really impressed me and been a leader all season after coming back from a major knee injury. I hope she can be an example for Amanda in her recovery," Ashley said. "Max has so much power in her shots that I've told her to give us some shots-on-goal from the outside so we can increase our scoring chances that are so crucial during the tournament.

"You have to take advantage of every scoring opportunity because they're at a premium during the post season."

During practice leading up to the tournament, Ashley has stressed ball movement and communication, while also working on penalty kicks in the event they may be needed to break a tie.

"You don't really work on penalty kicks that often in practice during the regular season because you're usually trying to get everyone on the same page offensively and most games don't call for penalty kicks," Ashley said. "But in the tournament, a penalty kick could mean the difference between moving on or going home."

The district tournament was scheduled to be played at Firemen's Field, but a scheduling conflict with the Highlands County Fair switched the venue to Palmetto.

The Streaks are the No. 3 seed in the tournament and will face No. 6 seed Avon Park, who have made huge strides since the beginning of the season.

"We've had to rebuild this team from the ground up," said AP head coach Jocelyn Simplice. "We're starting from scratch as far as teaching the girls to play the game the right way and I think we've really saw some major improvement throughout the season."

Simplice feels that his team matches up well with Sebring, but also understands that most of his team has no tournament experience.

"I thought we played Sebring really close and were really competitive," Simplice said. "But we're going to have to play an almost perfect game if we're going to have a chance in the tournament. The tournament is a completely different game in so many ways that I just want my girls to gain that experience."

Injuries have plagued the Red Devils as well, with leading scorer Ch'quen Wilmot having missed a pair of games with an injured leg, but it's been the emergence of goalie Jacqueline Yanez that has impressed the team the most.

"Jacqueline has kept us in a lot of games down the stretch," Simplice said.

Yanez made saved 22-of-26 shots against DeSoto in the regular season finale.

Senior Angie Carrillo has been impressed since returning to the soccer team after a one-year hiatus from the sport and feels that they should leave it all on the field when they play the Streaks.

"We have nothing to lose," Carrillo said. "We've come a long way this season and I'm really proud of the girls. They've got a good spirit on this team and have weathered a lot of adversity.

"We're just going to play our hearts out and leave it all on the field."

CLASS 4A-DISTRICT 10 SOCCER TOURNAMENT

at Palmetto High School

No. 3 Sebring vs. No. 6 Avon Park

TONIGHT at 8 p.m.

(Winner meets No. 2 Braden River/No. 7 Booker winner at 6 p.m. Thursday)