The Florida Gators, seeded No. 3 in the tournament, advanced to the field of eight for the sixth time in program history and first time since 2005. They defeated the Miami Hurricanes 4-3 in 10 Innings on Saturday night in front of a large crowd of 5,783 at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville.

The Hurricanes committed seven errors in the game, including one in the top of the 10th by right fielder Chris Pelaez, who misplayed a fly ball hit by freshman shortstop Nolan Fontana, out of West Orange High School. Fontana would end up scoring the game-winning run on a RBI double by Austin Maddox.

Lake Brantley High School alum Greg Larson entered the game in the bottom of the 10th with one on base and one out. The sophomore proceeded to catch freshman Michael Broad looking on strikes and then force sophomore Rony Rodriguez to ground out to Fontana at shortstop, who fired a bullet across the diamond to Preston Tucker at first base for the final out. Larson collected his third save and was greeted by teammates as the celebration began.

The Hurricanes made nine errors in their two games of Super Regional play, which as a result denied local kids such as freshman Steve Ewing out of University High School and Ethan Bornstein from Winter Park High School a chance to make it to Omaha. The Gators opened Super Regionals with a 7-2 win on Friday night.

Fontana and Larson join sophomore Ben McMahan and senior Clint Franklin as players from the Central Florida area with spots on the Florida roster. McMahon played his high school ball at Bishop Moore while Franklin played at Timber Creek.

Joining the Gators at the World Series are the Florida State Seminoles, who are making the trip for the 20th time in program history and 14th time under head coach Mike Martin. The Seminoles defeated Vanderbilt 7-6 in the decisive Game 3 of the team’s Super Regional matchup at Dick Howser Stadium in Tallahassee.

FSU, like the Gators, have four players from the Orlando area on its roster including senior outfielder Ohmed Danesh out of Dr. Phillips High School. Junior infielder Stuart Tapley and freshman Corben Madden both played baseball at Boone High School. Junior pitcher John Gast hails from Lake Brantley, where he was a teammate with Florida’s Larson from 2005-07.

For Gast, Tapley, and Danesh, this marks their second trip to Omaha in three years as FSU advanced in 2008, going 0-2 after losing to Stanford and Miami. The Seminoles open play this time around against TCU while Florida takes on No. 6 UCLA. The two state rivals could meet up early on as both are in the same bracket.

– More Local Players In College World Series –

Senior second baseman Mike Freeman out of Edgewater High School and sophomore shortstop Brad Miller from Olympia High School helped Clemson advance to the World Series. The Tigers take on No. 1 Arizona State to start the week’s final round of elimination play. Junior utility player Robert Beary out of Apopka started in 22 games for South Carolina, playing in 41 games on the year. The Gamecocks get underway against Oklahoma.

In the second day of the MLB First-Year Player Draft, local baseball players began to be selected by big league clubs. Below is a look at who they were, where they were picked, and what team made the call.

– 2010 MLB Draft Top-10 Local Picks –

– LHP Justin Nicolino (University) selected No. 80 overall by Toronto in 2nd round. WESH Video

– RHP A.J. Cole (Oviedo) selected No. 116 overall by Washington in 4th round.

– CF Mason Williams (West Orange) selected No. 145 overall by NY Yankees in 4th round.

– LHP Alex Burgos (Osceola/State College of Florida) selected No. 163 overall by Detroit in 5th round.

– LHP John Gast (Lake Brantley/Florida State) selected No. 199 overall by St. Louis in 6th round.

– RF Jose Dore (The First Academy) selected No. 244 overall by San Diego in 8th round.

– SS Mike Freeman (Edgewater/Clemson) selected No. 331 overall by Arizona in 11th round.

– RHP Cody Allen (Boone/UCF/St. Petersburg JC) selected No. 480 overall by Cleveland in 16th round.

– RHP Owen Dew (UCF) selected No. 630 overall by Cleveland in 21st round.

– C Shane Brown (Winter Park/UCF) selected No. 715 overall by NY Yankees in 23rd round.

– More Local MLB Draft Picks –

LF Chris Duffy (Cypress Creek/UCF) at No. 801 overall to Philadelphia (26th round); CF Jay Gonzalez (Freedom) No. 833 overall to Boston (27th round); RHP Tim Griffin (Rollins College) No. 852 overall to Seattle (28th round); LHP Ronald Schreurs (Freedom) No. 1,296 overall to Toronto (43rd round); LHP Jimmy Hodgskin (Bishop Moore) No. 1,311 overall to Philadelphia (43rd round); OF Tyler Marincov (Timber Creek) No. 1,453 overall to Detroit (48th round).

– Draft Notes –

– The UCF Knights have had nine different players selected in the MLB Draft over the last three years, including Brown, who has now been drafted twice by the Yankees. Last season he was picked in the 47th round. In all, UCF has had its baseball players drafted by MLB organizations 73 times since 1979. Dew was taken in the 33rd round in 2009 by the Los Angeles Angels. Duffy, who was selected in the 9th round out of high school, completed his four-year career as a finalist for the 2010 USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award as one of the top amateur players in the nation.

– The Florida Collegiate Summer League had the highest number of current or former baseball players drafted over the three-day MLB selection process as 25 FCSL players were taken, including five in the first eight rounds. A complete list of draftees is available at Florida League.

In the next 24 hours, a dream will become a reality for Oviedo pitcher A.J. Cole.

“I’ve been waiting my whole life for this day. It’s a dream come true. You can ask my parents, when I was little I said I wanted to play professional baseball and tomorrow I find out if I get to go or not,” he said.

According to mock drafts, Cole is projected as a sure-fire Major League Baseball first-rounder. Where he goes in the first 32 picks, he said, is up in the air.

Oviedo's A.J. Cole

“Anywhere in the first round, they didn’t even narrow it down to the tenth or 20th pick,” he said. “I’m just basically guessing where I’m going and I’m not for sure about that. I’ve talked to almost all of the teams in the first 29 picks. They don’t come out and tell you they are going to pick you, they let you know that on draft day they are going to pick you.”

Although, he has not worked out for any teams, scouts covet the 6-foot, 5-inch, 190-pounder, who’s fastball is in the mid 90s and powerful curveball has good movement.

He also said they like the fact that he is “a nice and easy thrower,” and the fact that he has developed over the past two years with his pitches and command.

First round picks are nothing new to Central Florida. Last year Lake Brantley shortstop Nick Franklin was selected as the 27th overall pick by the Seattle Mariners. Cole says he has received advice from Franklin as well as former Lyman pitcher Scottie Allen.

“I’ve talked to Nick Franklin and Scottie Allen, they said it’s really tough but if you stay with it it’s a lot of fun. The minor leagues aren’t what you expect. It’s not like college, it’s harder for the players. You’re not given everything, you have to work for it,” he said.

Today marks a new page in the baseball career of A.J. Cole, a career he has lofty goals for.

“I hope I can get to the major leagues as soon as possible. Keep improving, never go backwards, just do my best and give it everything I’ve got,” Cole said.

For that lucky team that selects him on draft day, he has a message to their fans.

“I’m going to support my fans because they are supporting me. I’m going to give a 110-percent and help my team win anyway I can,” he said.

As the hours inch closer to the draft, Cole will gather with his friends and family at a former coach’s house, “waiting around by the phone.” Waiting for the phone call that will become his future.

“It’s all real exciting. Last month I was like ‘I can’t wait for this’ and tomorrow is the day. It’s gone fast. I’m pretty sure things will work out for me,” he said.

– Note: The opening round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft takes place tonight (Monday) at 7 p.m. with the coverage continuing at MLB.com Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon –

– (Contact Orlando Sports Central at JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com) –

Timber Creek (22-7) used two runs in the top of the sixth inning and a gem of a pitching performance from Jonathan Dydo to ruin the postseason debut for Hagerty High School (17-11) on Tuesday night. TCHS overcame a one-run deficit on the road to pull out a 2-1 win over the Class 6A, District 3 champs.

Dydo, a Savannah State College commit, struck out seven and allowed just two hits over seven innings while Hagerty’s Brandon Bixler, bound for Florida Gulf Coast University, also struck out seven and gave up seven hits while going the distance.

It was a tough sixth inning for Bixler that benefited Timber Creek and proved to be the difference.

Trailing 1-0 with one out and runners at first and third for the Wolves, senior Tyler Marincov chopped the first pitch his way over the head of the third baseman to score pinch-runner Milton Alvira and knot the game at 1-all.

Branden Castro started the big inning with a single to left field before Cody Sharp moved him over to second base on a bunt. Alvira took over the base running duties from there and proceeded to third on a single by Austin Moore, who would soon advance to third base himself and tag up on a pop-up to right field by Spencer Angelis during the next at-bat to score the winning run.

That sets up a District 4 rematch on Friday between the Wolves and Freedom (26-4), who took the district title last week in a close game at Winter Park. Freedom ousted Oviedo from postseason play on Tuesday.

The Huskies got on the scoreboard first when in the bottom of the fourth inning Bixler logged Hagerty’s first hit of the game to right field, then made way for pinch runner Sergio Almarez to make his way around the bases.

With Jeff Driskel at the plate, Almarez stole second and third before making it home on a pop-up to centerfield.

Dydo looked to be in trouble from that point on as he then walked a batter and was charged with a balk, which moved runners to second and third with just one out. But then he struck out a batter on a full-count pitch and got out of the inning with a routine groundout to shortstop.

He would dominate from that point on, striking out four of the last nine batters he faced in the final three innings of play.

Marincov and Travis McPherson each finished with two hits while Eugene Vazquez added a single in the seventh for Timber Creek. Marincov also stole a base in the fourth.

Keeping the game close early on for Hagerty was Alex Greene, who turned in some big plays in the field for the Huskies in the loss.

In the third inning the second baseman made a nice catch to his left on a line drive before topping that play with a diving stop of a grounder to the same side, which he turned into the third out of the inning on a throw to first from his knees.

Greene then threw out a runner in the fourth and made a diving stop of a hart-hit grounder to his right side to hold up the hitter at first base. He later did the same thing in the top of the sixth, but the Wolves would do all the damage they would need in the frame for the win.

The Patriots earned a third-straight trip to the state semifinals with an 18-10 win in a second round play-in game at Lake Highland Prep on Friday.

Chelsea Pinneke scored two goals inside the opening five minutes to give the Patriots an early lead and the Highlanders were unable to recover.

Caroline Lamere, last season’s area player of the year, led the attack with four goals and four assists while Katie Trahanas added four goals and an assist. Pinneke and Jackie Schaefer finished with three goals each in the win.

Twice Lake Brantley held 10-point leads in the second half after building an 8-2 advantage at the break, but second-year coach Hanna Hopkins sees more work to be done moving forward in regards to the team’s draw controls and ground balls.

“Not our best game. But it’s a win, so we’ll take it,” said Hopkins, who played on the 2001 Patriots’ state title team before going on to play for the Florida Gators in Gainesville.

Former high school teammates of Hopkins, Casey Foote and Aubrey White, join former Gator goalie Jen Dunham on the coaching staff.

Lake Brantley (15-3) finished runners-up in the state a year ago. They’ll now meet up with Park Vista on Friday at West Orange High School for the chance to return to the title game. Winter Springs plays Vero Beach in the other semifinal.

The state championship game is scheduled for Saturday, April 24 at 5 p.m. at West Orange.

“We’ve been working since the state championship ended last year to have another chance at next weekend,” said Hopkins. “And we have the team to do it. It’s just a matter of getting it done.”

Trahanas leads the team with 66 goals on the year while midfielders Pinneke and Kaleigh Henry are considered two of the biggest threats on either ends of the field. Senior goalie Heather Gable has benefited from the protection of defenders Christina Monahan and Amira El-Behiri.

Lake Highland Prep (11-6) entered the contest having pulled out close wins over Timber Creek and Bishop Moore to keep its season alive by way of a vastly improved defensive unit.

But they played with their back against the wall for much of the night on Friday as they were overwhelmed early on by swift passes and quick strikes by the Patriots.

Before the game, second-year head coach Amy Demers said the team was well aware of whom they were in comparison to the ever-consistent Patriots, and that after the initial goal of winning a district title (following a two-year drought) was reached, that “everything else is sort of icing on the cake.”

Tyler Thomas led the Highlanders with three goals in the final game of the season. Polly Peck and Elyese Johnson each scored twice. Other players coming up big for LHP this year were Kellie Mitchell and Lauren Gierke.

Malcolm

Making a trip to the opening round of March Madness this week are Winthrop sophomore Chris Malcolm (Timber Creek), Florida junior Chandler Parsons (Lake Howell), Purdue senior Keaton Grant (Gateway) and Wofford senior Corey Godzinski (East Ridge).

Below is a look at the seasons each local product put together in 2009-10 and info on their respective opening round games…

– No. 16 Winthrop vs. No. 16 Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Malcolm played just four minutes in the Big South Conference Tournament, grabbing one rebound for a team that last advanced to the Big Dance in his redshirt season of 2008. The 2007 Timber Creek graduate made one start in 29 games this season at Winthrop (19-13). In 6.7 minutes per game he averaged 1.5 points and 2.1 rebounds on the year. The winner of tonight’s play-in game takes on No. 1 Duke in the South Region on Friday at 7:25 p.m.

Parsons

– No. 10 Florida vs. No. 7 BYU, Thursday at 12:20 p.m.

Parsons played most of the way in each of Florida’s two Southeastern Conference Tournament games and scored 31 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, dished out three assists and nabbed two steals in the split. The 2007 Lake Howell graduate started 17 of 33 games this season for the Gators (21-12). In 30.5 minutes of action he averaged 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds on the year with 82 assists and 37 steals to his credit. The winner of Thursday’s game takes on either Kansas State or North Texas in the West Region on Saturday.

Grant

– No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 Siena, Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Grant played a combined 45 minutes in two Big Ten Tournament games but went just 1-for-10 from the field for five points in the split for the Boilermakers. He also had four rebounds, two assists and two steals. The 2005 Kissimmee Gateway graduate started 22 of 32 games this season at Purdue (27-5), who advanced to the Sweet Sixteen a year ago. In 22.1 minutes of action he averaged 6.6 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, and drained 27 3-pointers on the year. The winner of Friday’s game takes on either Texas A&M or Utah State on Sunday.

Godzinski

– No. 13 Wofford vs. No 4 Wisconsin, Friday at 2:50 p.m.

Godzinski played just 15 minutes in the Southern Conference Tournament, scoring six points and grabbing four rebounds for a program making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament. The 2006 East Ridge graduate started 15 of 31 games this season at Wofford (26-8). In 13.1 minutes of action he’s averaged 3.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game on the year. The winner of Friday’s game takes on either Temple or Cornell in the East Region on Sunday.

Orange County came away with big wins in both games.

The Orange County girls scored a 3-0 win behind goals from Timber Creek’s Elizabeth Hagan, Winter Park’s Hannah Madsen and Apopka’s Lindsey Rice. Shelby Kesic (Timber Creek) got most of the work in the net to help secure the shutout.

Most Valuable Player awards went to Orangewood’s Kelsey Affolter and Lake Mary’s Saskia Bryant.

The Orange County boys got three goals from MVP Deividy Cunha (Olympia) and another score from Colonial’s Ricardo King in a 4-1 win in the nightcap. Lake Mary’s Eric Skiko was named Seminole County MVP.

The games will be broadcast this Saturday on Bright House Sports Network Channel 47. The girls game will be shown at 12 noon with the boys game following at 4 p.m.

– Note: Much of the following post by J.C. Carnahan appeared in Orlando Sentinel’s Varsity the Blog –

– Orange vs. Seminole Girls –

The Orange County vs. Seminole County girls senior soccer game featured UCF-signee April Asby of Oviedo and forwards Lindsey Rice (Apopka), Micah Brown (Ocoee) and Kelsey Affolter (Orangewood).

Orange County Girls (Photo by J.C. Carnahan)

Rice helped lead Apopka to an appearance in the region finals this past season and was joined on the Orange County team by fellow Blue Darter midfielder Kaley Rhodes.

Brown finished her career with 30 goals and 22 assists at Ocoee. She lined up for the final time alongside Knights midfielder Michelle Labbie.

Other sets of Orange County teammates included Brooke Comans (defender), Elizabeth Hagan (midfield) and Shelby Kesic (goalkeeper) from Timber Creek, and Bishop Moore midfielders Alex Bentzon and Megan Young.

Defenders Tryncha Farrell (University), Gloria Gomez (Freedom), Lauren Shea (West Orange), Mia Jakubisin (Lake Highland); midfielders Alexis Garrand (Dr. Phillips), Hannah Madsen (Winter Park), Ellisa Reed (Wekiva); and goalkeeper Chelsea Lingelbach from Edgewater made up the rest of the Orange roster.

Seminole County Girls (Photo by J.C. Carnahan)

Just three players from Seminole’s state runner-up team – Megan Kreinbring, Megan Buford, Andrea Murillo – took part in Saturday’s game.

Winter Springs was represented in the game by six seniors, as Shelby Guenthardt, Katrina Leibbrandt, Blake Butterfield, Samantha Murphy, Michelle Samper and Allie Costanza played one more time together after appearing in the state semifinals.

Lake Mary also had six participants: Mallory Bates, Saskia Bryant, Melony Harder, Danielle Mollerup, Lauren Storch and Megan Lynch.

Lake Howell’s Priscilla Amalbert joined Oviedo’s Asby, Jillian Peppiat, Lindsay Osborn and Allie DeJesus, and Hagerty’s Samantha Shuman, Carolyn Piggot and Angela Malanga on the Seminole roster.

– Orange vs. Seminole Boys –

The Seminole boys roster was led by midfielder Tyler McDaniel and defender Justin Green of Lake Mary, and Orangewood Christian forward Aaron Gendreau and midfielder Josh Hudson.

The Orange roster featured Olympia forward Deividy Cunha and Ocoee goalkeeper Keniel Baker, who allowed just 13 goals this past season.

Orange County Boys (Photo by J.C. Carnahan)

Playing alongside Cunha on the Orange County team were Olympia High teammates Timmy Gross (midfielder) and defenders Robert Kirkwood and Marco Fumagalli. They helped the Titans advance to the region finals this past season.

Midfielder Sebastian Gonzalez was the lone representative from Celebration’s region final team.

Helping anchor the defense was Winter Park keeper Orman Kimborough and defenders Luis Valazquez of University and Timber Creek’s Jorge Nazario and Garrett Depietaro.

Antonio Ascencio (University), Steven Harvey (Apopka), Sebastian Carmona (Boone), John Labrador (Cypress Creek) and Mitch Handley (Winter Park) made up the midfield while forwards Ricardo King (Colonial), Kejoun Benjamin (Ocoee) and Luke Davis (Lake Highland Prep) rounded out the roster.

Seminole County Boys (Photo by J.C. Carnahan)

Seminole County was represented by nine All-Seminole Athletic Conference First Team selections, including McDaniel and Green. Among them were goalkeeper Patrick Bond (Lyman); defenders Omner Morelos (Winter Springs), Ryan McDonald (Seminole) and Kraig Naas (Lyman); midfielder Eric Skiko (Lake Mary); and forwards Taylor Cope (Hagerty) and Joey Hollis (Lake Howell).

Also representing the state finals team from Seminole in the game were goalkeeper Ryan Ensign and midfielder Jason Marthe. Defender Connor McCarthy, forward Robbie Hamoud and midfielders Marco Solano and Matthew Ilter made the cut from Lake Mary’s region final team.

Rounding out the remainder of the Seminole County roster was Hagerty midfielders Derek Eiflander and Erick Hamann; Lake Howell defender Brandon Carpenter; and Lyman forward Daniel Jimenez and midfielder Brendan Holmes.

That is if they can escape Edgewater High School with a win on Tuesday night after recently dropping the District 4 title game there 73-71 in overtime to the Eagles.

No. 5 Edgewater (26-3) opened regional play with a 64-45 win in the quarterfinals over Lake Brantley last Thursday while Winter Park (24-5) – ranked No. 1 in the state – dominated No. 2 Winter Springs (25-4), 83-60.

Among the top Class 6A teams in the state (according to the final Associated Press poll) still alive this week in postseason play are No. 3 Dr. Phillips (hosting Vero Beach), No. 6 Coral Gables (at No. 8 Miami Dr. Krop), No. 7 Wharton (at St. Petersburg), No. 9 First Coast (hosting Mainland) and No. 10 Boyd Anderson (at Santaluces).

No. 4 Kissimmee Osceola had its season come to an end in the opening round of Class 5A play while No. 6 Oak Ridge is on the road this week in Class 4A against No. 4 Gainesville Eastside.

– Winter Park over Winter Springs –

The matchup between the Wildcats and Winter Springs proved to be more hype than was anticipated as Winter Park broke open a close game after the first period and coasted to the win.

They did it with relative ease in front of a packed house that witnessed Winter Park junior guard Austin Rivers drop 41 points on the night, including seven 3-pointers. He entered the game averaging 23.7 points per outing.

Nobody could guard him. Not Mike McCloskey. Not Brian Holmes. Not Daniel Kuhl. Not Kerwin Hogue. Each of them had up-close views of the ball as it left the hands of Rivers from beyond the arc at some point while one-on-one with him in the game.

Rivers played with a look of determination after coming off of that district championship loss. It didn’t hurt either to have Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski in attendance.

The Bears got off to a solid start early in the first period behind rebounds from Spencer Mitchell and multiple buckets from Kuhl and Jacabo. But following a timeout, while trailing 7-2, the Wildcats returned to the floor as the aggressors as Rivers went to draining three’s at will en route to scoring 11 of his team’s 17 points in the period to take a one-point lead.

It wouldn’t get this close the rest of the way.

By the end of the first half Rivers had already posted 20 points and drained six 3-pointers in helping Winter Park take a 40-21 lead into the break.

When Rivers wasn’t launching the long-ball, John David Swanson was connecting on them in the second quarter.

And though it is necessary to point out that very little the Bears threw up managed to find the cylinder – no matter how many times Winter Springs tried from the outside – the all-around play of the Wildcats is what won this game.

Robert Lovaglio, Adam Jones and Brett Comer were blocking shots, grabbing rebounds and making steals in the opening periods to help maintain momentum for the Wildcats.

The highlight of the first half came during a two-on-one fast break with 20 seconds remaining as Comer dished a behind-the-back pass in the paint to James Ferrell for the easy lay-in.

That capped a 23-5 second quarter for the Wildcats and perhaps said all there was to say.

Rivers went on to score seven points, record a steal, assist on a bucket by Jones and grab three rebounds in the third period. Despite eight points from Austin Keel for Winter Springs, including his 69th 3-pointer of the season (along with five points from Jacabo) the Bears trailed 54-39 after three.

And although Winter Springs kept knocking on the door as they attempted to make a close game out of it, Winter Park continued to turn them away in the fourth with Rivers, Jones and Ferrell answering scores from Holmes and Jacabo down the stretch.

Jacabo fouled out midway through the fourth with a team-high 18 points. He will play college basketball at Stetson next season. Holmes has committed to North Florida.

Jones scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Winter Park.

The loss was the first at home for Winter Springs this season and was the fifth win in the series over the past six meetings for the Wildcats.

Winter Park previously defeated Winter Springs on their home floor earlier in the season en route to winning the Winter Park Rotary Tip-Off title, 59-32, on Dec. 5, 2009.

Shelby Guenthardt (Photo by Scott McCall)

With less than nine minutes to go in the first half, Shelby Guenthardt went one-on-one with TCHS goalkeeper Shelby Kesic to net what proved to be the game-winning goal.

Once Kesic rushed out to make a save on the initial shot attempt, Guenthart followed up on the loose ball by placing it in the far corner of the net to give the Bears a 2-1 advantage.

“That’s her style of play, she’s very aggressive and will do anything to get the ball into the net,” said Winter Springs Coach Kurt Oettl of the senior. “And we talked about that. We wanted to follow every shot up and put pressure on their goalkeeper.”

Timber Creek had trouble on the defensive end all night and could not slow down the visiting team or even relieve much of the pressure for Kesic, a Rollins College signee.

Winter Springs Samantha Murphy and Timber Creek's Rachel Montenegro (Photo by Scott McCall)

Winter Springs added a goal on a corner kick by Samantha Murphy in the final six minutes of the first half, then extended the lead yet again in the opening seconds of the second half on a goal from Vanessa Aponte to essentially shut the door on any hope of a rally by the Wolves.

Aponte had two assists and added another goal nearly 10 minutes later, following an own-goal by the Wolves.

Despite the lopsided final score, the match started off rather competitive before the Bears managed to execute a possession-based game that got the ball up to their forwards, just as they hoped to accomplish before going in.

“We were a little worried after we went down a goal early because we knew they were a strong team, especially in the second half, so we had to make some changes,” said Oettl.

The two teams traded scores early on when TCHS junior Karen Homs, the teams leading scorer, dribbled off a defender with her back toward the goal and delivered an arching shot over the head of Winter Springs keeper Shelby Savolainen from the top of the box.

Vanessa Aponte (Photo by Scott McCall)

Then Winter Springs responded less than a minute later with a header from Christina Samper to knot the game at 1-all.

Savolainen finished with nine saves in the win to help turn away Timber Creek, who won its fourth district title and were playing in the state tournament for the sixth time.

“We’ve been good about doing that all year with responding and coming back quickly,” said Oettl.

They’ll hope to respond once more on Tuesday as Winter Springs goes on the road for a rematch of the District 3 title game against Oviedo, which they lost at Hagerty, in the regional semifinals.

– More Local Girls Soccer –

Winter Springs over Timber Creek at Orlando Sentinel

Oviedo over Freedom at Orlando Sentinel

Regional preview at Orlando Sentinel

In both games, the winning teams controlled the tempo for most of the way even as Winter Springs needed a little extra time to settle things in overtime.

“Our girls stepped up and played as hard as they could to get [that last goal] when they needed to,” said head coach Kurt Oettl.

Oviedo, on the other hand, is right back where it was a year ago and hope to make the most of the position they’re in once again.

“A district tournament can help set you up for later and get you on a roll,” said Oviedo coach Scott Waisanen.

– No. 2 Winter Springs (14-5-3) over No. 3 Lake Mary (10-6-2)

In a matchup featuring two of Seminole County’s best goalkeepers – Shelby Savolainen of Winter Springs and Megan Lynch of Lake Mary – the real story was how the Bears nearly squandered away the game before coming out on top 2-1 in overtime.

Winter Springs controlled possession of the ball for much of the night, to the point where Lake Mary was unable to get as much as a shot on goal until nearly 10 minutes had passed in the second half.

The Bears were aggressive on the offensive end of the field as senior forwards Vanessa Aponte and Shelby Guenthardt, and junior midfielder Taylor Hoch forced Lynch into a busy night in the net.

Aponte scored the games first goal, her 26th of the season, when she drilled a free kick from just outside the box that landed into the lower left corner of the net a little more than eight minutes into the game.

The 1-0 lead held up most of the way, until Lake Mary junior defender Rachel Buffalo bounced a soft header past a defender as Savolainen was caught out of position to tie the game with less than nine minutes to play. It was just the fourth legitimate opportunity the Rams could muster on goal.

The overtime period didn’t last long, though. Aponte had two shots on goal saved by Lynch, the last of which was a spectacular diving effort that set up the game-winning corner kick. Once the kick sailed to the far post it bounced back toward the front of the goal off of the foot of a Winter Springs player and was promptly tapped in by junior midfielder Meredith Ciocca to end the game.

Lynch finished with nine saves in the loss but saw plenty more shots sail off the mark from the likes of senior midfielders Samantha Murphy and Michelle Samper.

– No. 1 Oviedo (17-4-1) over No. 5 Lake Brantley (8-9-3)

Oviedo has carried the torch as Central Florida’s top girls soccer team for much of the season, routinely bringing the best out of their opponents after advancing to the state semifinals a year ago.

It took some time to settle down on Wednesday during a 3-0 win over the Patriots, but the slow start did nothing to take away from a dominant effort.

Led by the aggressive play of junior midfielders Katie O’Kennedy and Morgan Campbell, the Lions continued to apply the pressure until Lake Brantley eventually broke down the stretch.

Despite missing its mark on a barrage of shots, Oviedo took an early 1-0 lead when a throw-in from April Asby slipped through the hands of keeper Lilian Valle for the first score of the night.

In typical fashion, the Lions moved the ball through a multitude of positions and had no less than 10 different players take a shot in the direction of Lake Mary’s goal.

Late in the game, Erin Phillips punched in a goal on a deflected save following a long attempt from a teammate and O’Kennedy added another goal less than three minutes later.

– More Local Girls Soccer Coverage –

Game recap at Orlando Sentinel

Game photos by Stephen M. Dowell