Tie at OHS soccer match

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Tie at OHS soccer match

Sports

Thursday, 07 January 2010 00:41

By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer
It’s cold, but the soccer matches go on.
Despite temperatures dipping into the 30s, local athletic directors said that the county has no guidelines for cold-weather contests. Soccer is the only sport played outdoors in the winter season.
“We have encouraged all of our soccer athletes to dress in layers, with possibly having sweats on under their uniforms,” Poinciana’s Mal Harpell, a native New Yorker, said. “If they were playing in a State Series game it wouldn’t be postponed, so they have to be prepared for any elements except lightning.”
Osceola and Gateway met in a boys Orange Belt Conference match Tuesday that ended in a 2-all tie.
The Panthers (3-4-4, 2-0-2 in OBC) struck immediately. Forward Andres Jara, in his first action since November due to injury, scored from short range just a minute into the game, then Edison Velez rang a shot off the crossbar in the second minute.
Osceola (5-2-6, 2-0-2) equalized it when O’Neill Blake stole a Gateway clearing pass and rifled a shot from a tough angle 18 minutes later. The Kowboys had a penalty kick five minutes later, but GHS goalie Diego Alejos stopped Hernando Bedoya.
Gateway took back the lead eight minutes into the second half when Jara headed Felipe Olivera’s corner kick into the net, but Blake was the answer man again, scoring a minute later on a long run. Osceola’s defense stopped a flurry in front of the net with less than a minute left to preserve the tie, Osceola’s fourth in five games.
Gateway Coach Oswald Attin said he felt the team gave away a win over Celebration earlier in the year with the tie.
“We should have won, but it was a good game,” he said. “We got players back in the game that did their job.”
OHS Coach Tom Bell said the game was a good way to knock off the rust from the holiday break.
“It was a well-played game, from both sides,” he said. “We played tough and hard, and that was good with the first game back, and the cold.”
Harmony (2-0-1, 5-2-2 overall) and Celebration (2-1, 6-4) are also alive in the OBC title race.
Osceola’s girls (9-6-2) are now 7-2-1 in District 5A-5 after a 4-0 win over Liberty on Tuesday.
Inside the warmer gyms, Poinciana’s girls basketball team notched a 51-39 win over Harmony on Monday that counted in the District 4A-6 and OBC standings. Kadesia Johnson scored 13 and Brandi Walker added 12 for the Eagles (9-7).
The Longhorns (8-6) play at St. Cloud tonight, and a win would set up an OBC championship game with Osceola on Friday at Harmony.
The Kowgirls (12-6) lost to Winter Haven, 72-60, on Tuesday. Osceola’s Constance Uggle had 17 points.