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Raiders Soccer Team Wins District Title

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By DAREK SHARP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 2, 2008

PLANT CITY - Regardless of how their season concludes, the Plant City High Raiders will never forget how the district tournament ended.

In what no doubt was the most exciting district game in program history, Plant City won the 6A-8 title by beating Sarasota Riverview 5-4.

The game, played Jan. 25 at Raider Stadium, featured wild momentum swings and a conclusion where the Raiders goalie came out of the net to score the game-winning shot.

"If you were a neutral spectator, that was one of the best games you'll ever see," Raiders head coach K.C. Van der Luit said. "But to me, an exciting game for a soccer coach is a 5-0 win. That was too much drama."

Even before the game's conclusion, a school record was set. Stevie Lamas set the Plant City High mark for goals in a season. He scored three times, giving him 27 for the year.

The Rams gave Plant City, the top seed at the district tournament, all it could handle. Plant City looked like it might cruise after Lamas scored the game's first two goals, needing just 15 minutes to do it. But Sarasota Riverview rallied to tie the score by halftime and continued to stun the hosts by taking an early lead in the second half.

However, A.J. Black quickly made it 3-3 with his header, and Lamas took a pass from Brian Fekete and the Raiders were back ahead with 28 minutes left in regulation.

The 4-3 lead held until injury time, when Sarasota Riverview tied the score.

After 20 minutes of scoreless overtime, the game went to penalty kicks, and Plant City did not miss. Goalie Alex De La Garza made one stop in the second round, and that was enough to set up his fifth-round goal that sent the Raiders to the win.

Van der Luit's main concern going into the Alonso game was the team's swelling goals-against total.

"In our first 14 games, we gave up 10 goals total. In the last five, we gave up 13," he said. "We know we can shut people out, we just have to tighten up."

Plant City's district championship, its second in the past three years, gave the Raiders a record of 16-2-3.

Plant City was scheduled to host Alonso, a state semifinalist last year, in the first round of the playoffs Thursday. If the Raiders won, they play again in the regional semifinals Tuesday night.

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampa trib.com.

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