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Raiders Soccer Team Advances To Playoffs

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By DAREK SHARP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 30, 2008

Updated: 01/28/2008 07:24 pm

PLANT CITY - The undefeated start, which lasted 14 games into the season, was dangerously close to being rendered meaningless.

But the Plant City High Raiders gathered themselves just in time - and landed in the state boys soccer playoffs.

On a white-knuckle night of action Jan. 23, Durant saw its season come to an end, then the Raiders were able to avoid the same fate. Durant fell 3-2 to Sarasota Riverview in sudden-death overtime, and Plant City rallied to beat Sarasota 2-1 in the District 6A-8 tournament at Raider Stadium.

The semifinal games determined who would advance to the 6A regional playoffs, which begin Thursday. Plant City will be playing a 6A-7 team, either Gaither or Alonso, depending on the results of the district title games.

"This was like playoff soccer," Raiders coach K.C. Van der Luit said after his team prevented the Sailors' upset bid. "This was the pressure game, more so than the district finals because your season is on the line. If you go out now, that undefeated start doesn't mean anything."

Despite being the fourth seed, Sarasota had a lot of momentum coming into the game and it showed. The Sailors won six straight. The top-seeded Raiders began the year 12-0-2 but then lost to Newsome and Brandon before tying Bloomingdale 4-4.

Sarasota scored the lone goal in the first half. Plant City had put together some good runs up the wings with speedsters Johnathan Dupree and Stevie Lamas, but the passes were just not connecting.

Brian Fekete, who had created several chances through the midfield, got the Raiders into the game. He got off a strong shot that the goaltender could not control, and Andres Medina put in the rebound to make the score 1-1.

Dupree, who missed a chance to give his team the lead when his uncontested shot went wide in the 58th minute, made up for it. With just nine minutes left in regulation, Dupree ran onto a high, bouncing ball and headed it around the defender. Then Dupree cut the ball to the left, where a speeding Freddie Qujiandran drilled home the winning goal.

"We knew at halftime we better get it together," Dupree said. "We decided to get out there, play as a team and quit lollygagging or our season was over."

When the game was 1-1, the Raiders benefited from a noncall when Raiders goalie Alex De La Garza clearly handled the ball after running out of the penalty box to attempt a save.

A couple of calls before that went in Plant City's favor, a referee's decision spelled the beginning of the end for Durant.

The Cougars had fallen behind Sarasota Riverview but tied it right before the half when Leandro Mesquita's free kick was bobbled by the Rams' goalie, and Freeman Bass knocked the ball in.

Then Durant took the lead when Billy Fanning scored on a long throw-in by Mark Mangen. It stayed 2-1 for 33 minutes, and as time was winding down, the Rams received what most Sarasota Riverview fans viewed as a gift.

A Rams player initiated contact inside the Durant penalty box and the whistle was blown, presumably a foul against Sarasota Riverview. But the side referee pointed to the penalty spot in front of a shocked bunch of Cougars.

Rams top player Daniel Meacock converted the tying penalty kick. In overtime, Durant top scorer Cecil Clarke hit the post with a would-be winning goal, then with 4:30 left in the second overtime, Sam Wismer placed a perfect shot in for the victory.

"You hate to see a referee have a decision in the outcome, and this was a major decision," Durant head coach Jamin Hollingsworth said. "We're mad. We were still in the game, but that basically put us into an uphill battle."

Hollingsworth said the explanation he got - not from the referee who made the call but from another official working the game - is that a Durant player prevented the Rams player from getting up after the whistle.

Durant finished with a record of 11-6-1.

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

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