By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

If Celebration was looking for a good reference on how to defend its 4A District 6 title, it found it on a chilly Thursday night at Gateway.

The Storm practiced for its title defense by winning the Orange Belt Conference with a 2-1 win that had thrills to match the chills late in the game.

Two minutes after the Panthers (8-6-3) tied the game with a penalty shot, Miguel Cortes feathered a pass through two defenders to Jamie Anderson, who turned and fired the winning shot into the net with just 2:17 left.

Celebration remained unbeaten at 11-0-3, a badge of courage for the players, which they showed in their post-game celebration.

Storm Coach Julio Machuca is in his first year, so he didn’t expect the celebration, as he’s still learning who his team’s rivals are.

“Going undefeated in the OBC is meaningful to them, and the kids have developed a rivalry with Gateway,” he said. “We’ve had some great support.”

Scoring chances were at a premium early on Thursday. Gateway kept five players back in support for most of the game, and Celebration’s defense of Michael Mays,  Brian Santos, Mike Anderson and Alexander Hernandez turned nearly everything away in front of goalie John Birchall.

The Storm took a lead in the 57th minute when Jehov Pardo de Figueroa fired a penalty shot into the net. Celebration could have won the OBC even with a tie, and it looked like that’d be the case when Gateway’s Felipe Oliviera was fouled in the goalie area with 4:39 left and awarded a penalty shot, which he buried in the corner of the net to make it a 1-1 game.

It just set the stage for Anderson’s heroics.

“What a great win. It just shows these kids will never give up, and I’m so proud of them,” Machuca said.

“That late PK would deflate most teams, but our guys just put the pedal down. What a great pass to set up that goal, and Jamie placed it, he didn’t just blast it.”

The Storm get one more chance to put the unbeaten mark on the line before the 4A-6 tournament. Celebration will host Montverde Academy (7-0) Thursday.

The district tournament begins Jan. 25 at Harmony.

The Storm, with a 5-0-1 4A-6 record, will be the top seed in the district tournament, earning a first-round bye.

“We have a steady defense. The team’s really come into its own now,” Machuca said.

Osceola can claim second place in the OBC with a victory Friday at home against Harmony.

The Kowboys (14-4-1) played Davenport Ridge on Friday for the No. 1 seed at the 5A-5 tournament.

“When we’ve got everybody on the same page, we’ve played very well,” OHS Coach Tom Bell said. “We’ve played with everybody on our schedule.”