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RSL Florida Wins 2 State Cup Titles

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By NICHOLAS J.E. MURRAY

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 24, 2008

RSL Florida's girls under-17 and under-16s won state championships in Pensacola last weekend at the finals of the Florida Youth Soccer Association State Cup tournament.

The RSL under-17s defeated the Valrico Fury 2-1 after a shootout, needing a last-minute goal by Taylor Richardson to send the game to overtime. RSL won the game in a shootout when Kayli Kishel scored in the first round.

"It was a great game," RSL coach Jason Streets said. "It was the greatest relief ever when Richardson scored. We had some good chances both in the first half and the second half, and I thought we should have at least put one in. At the point when she scored I was starting to get depressed because it was one of those games where it just wasn't your time."

Valrico had taken a 1-0 lead midway through the first half when Allison Griffin scored off a free kick by Rudi Rodriguez. Valrico then tried to sit on its lead in the second half, adopting a more defensive formation and mentality that allowed RSL the chance to create more opportunities.

"We did feel like we had the upper hand," Rodriguez said. "Usually the team that scores first wins because they have more steam going ahead, but in the second half we played more defensively."

Richardson tied the game when she latched onto a deep throw-in and fired a shot into the net. Richardson, who won a state title earlier this year with Tampa Prep, said the team was disappointed to be down, but she believed they could win despite trailing late.

"At the beginning of the second half, I was like 'I'm going to score,'" Richardson said. "Sure enough it went in the net. It was a great feeling."

After two scoreless overtime periods, the game went to a shootout. Both sides missed twice in the first five shots, sending the shootout into sudden death. RSL goalkeeper Courtney Zwetsch then saved Valrico's sixth shot, giving Kishel the chance to end the game. Kishel, who had played through an ankle injury, scored to give RSL the win.

"She sprained her right ankle the weekend before," Streets said. "Going into Saturday we didn't know if she was going to be able to play. But she gave us a great half against Space Coast, and then Sunday played almost every minute.RSL's under-16s didn't have as much drama as it defeated the IUS Elite from Orlando 3-0 behind a pair of goals and an assist by Connor Zwetsch.

Zwetsch provided the cross for Nikki Carter to give RSL the lead, and then Carter returned the favor as Zwetsch doubled the advantage. For Coach Jim Cote, the state title was a sign of how far the team had come after getting knocked out in the quarterfinals last year.

"They bought into a complete change," Cote said. "A complete change in coach, a complete change in mentality, in training, fitness.

"Last year when we lost to First Coast in the round of eight, we said, 'we could have won today if we'd believed in ourselves.' Since that point it's been, 'Jim's told us were pretty good, we must believe in ourselves and trust each other and know I, personally, am a good soccer player.' And they've taken that approach, and that's the real thing, the real commitment."

RSL's under-18 boys, who were aiming for a fourth state title in five years, weren't as lucky in their shootout against Team Boca as they lost 3-2. Goalkeeper Brad Sienkiewicz said that the loss stung, but that they'd be back for one last run as an under-19 team next season.

"It's really unfortunate with the team we had and the way things went down," Sienkiewicz said. "We're going to learn from it, everyone's going to play college, and we'll be back for under-19."

RSL's girls under-18s had an uphill task ahead of them when they took to their field for their final, and it proved too much as they lost 6-0 to an IMG Academy team that is ranked No. 1 in the nation. But forward Chelsea Klotz, who had scored a hat trick against Pensacola in the semifinals, was upbeat about the team's season.

"We knew how good IMG was," Klotz said. "But I don't think we expected the score, but we knew their skill and how good they were on the ball."

GYMNASTICS: Catherine Hires of LaFleur's Tampa won an individual discipline title at the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics in Kissimmee on Sunday as she scored a 9.750 in the Senior D division parallel bars.

Hires also took home a share of third in the vault with a score of 9.575, but only finished 16th in the all-around competition after an 8.900 score in her floor routine.

Kaleigh Dickson finished 13th in the Senior A all-around competition with a total of 37.400, including a 9.500 in the vault. Dickson, who also trains at LaFleur's Tampa and recently committed to LSU, also scored a 9.375 in the beam.

Hires and Dickson's teammate Amy Ferguson finished 21st overall in the Senior C division with a total of 37.050. Ferguson's best score came from her floor routine (9.350).

BASEBALL: The Temple Terrace Stars won the under-12 AAU state championship with a 5-4 win against Chet Lemon's Juice in Clearwater on Sunday.

After the Juice had tied the game 4-4 in the top of the fifth inning, the Stars' Jordan Parnell led off the bottom half with a single. Parnell then advanced to third on a pair of groundouts, bringing up Tucker Newhaus. Newhaus hit a grounder deep to shortstop and legged out an infield hit, allowing Parnell to score.With the win, the Stars earned the right to compete in the national championships in Virginia Beach, Va., in July.

Nicholas J.E. Murray can be reached at (813) 259-8243 or nmurray@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Youth Sports for more news, notes and live game stories.

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