By Ken Jackson
Staff Writer

The Celebration Storm fell just one goal short of the Class 4A Final Four.

New Port Richey Mitchell scored a goal in the 10th minute of Friday's Region 2 final, and it held up for a 1-0 victory at wet, blustery Storm Field.

Max Rockwell powered a direct kick from just outside the penalty area, and the Mustangs (24-2-3) made it stand up for another 70 minutes.

Celebration (17-5) had four chances stopped or go just wide of the net over the next 35 minutes of play. Center midfielder Santiago Echeverri sent a shot just wide in the 19th minute. Jeremy Hong put a strong direct kick on goal in the 28th minute only to watch it get saved, then sent another just agonizingly wide 11 minutes later.

The Storm got a quality shot through the Mustang defense in the 47th minute, but it went into the side of the net. Celebration finished the game with a flurry of offense, including one last cross with 46 seconds left in the match that nobody wearing purple could get a good foot on and into the net.

CHS Coach Mike Meechin said his team's good effort was simply trumped.

"We played well, we just got outplayed. We got some craziness there at the end but it's not our style to just throw it at the net like that and just hope it goes in."

Mitchell advances to play in the 4A state semifinal at the University of Tampa's Pepin Stadium on Wednesday.