Green Dragons topple Titans in district soccer

The Lake Placid boys soccer team proved it was the better squad by beating Tenoroc by a score of 2-0 in the Class 3A-District 9 soccer tournament on Tuesday night at Roger Scarborough Memorial Field.

The win, which gave the fourth-seeded Green Dragons a three-game season sweep of the talented Titans, moved Lake Placid into Wednesday night's semifinals against the No. 1-seeded Mulberry Panthers.

Results from Wednesday night's semifinal match weren't available at press time, but for the complete story and photos, be sure to check out Friday's Highlands Today sports section.

Lake Placid's Mario Calvillo scored a goal just before the half to give the Green Dragons the lead and Ricardo Jaramillo added an insurance goal late in the second half to seal the district quarterfinal victory.

"We beat Tenoroc three times this season and every match was low-scoring and pretty physical," said veteran Lake Placid coach Josh Virkler. "This match was no different and we knew we had to do a good job of keeping possession of the ball and finishing our chances.

"Fortunately, we were able to score a couple of goals to advance to the semifinals."

Lake Placid dominated the pace of play in the first half against a very quick Tenoroc squad.

The Green Dragons finally got on the scoreboard when Calvillo gained control of a through ball by outrunning the Tenoroc players and the senior midfielder blasted a shot past the Titans keeper for a 1-0 lead.

Lake Placid used its excellent team speed and crisp passing to keep possession of the ball to frustrate the Tenoroc players throughout the match.

The Green Dragons added a key late goal in the second half when freshman Wilfreddy Moreno made a nice run down the right sideline and made a beautiful crossing pass in front of the Tenoroc goal.

Lake Placid's Jaramillo, an experienced senior, gained control of the ball and rifled a shot into the back of the net to send the Green Dragons on to the next round of play in the district tournament.

"I'm proud of our guys because they played well against a good Tenoroc team," Virkler said. "Mulberry is a very solid team and we lost twice to them during the season.

"Even though we have to play Mulberry less than 24 hours after beating Tenoroc, I think the guys will be fired up and we're peaking at the right time."