James Lynch scored on a three-yard run with 18 second to play to help the Orlando Predators (3-1) overcome a 15-point deficit Saturday night against the Philadelphia Soul (1-3).

The Preds won 53-46 in front of an announced crowd of 11,789 at Amway Center.

“You’ve got to win the tough close games like this in this league,” Predators coach Pat O’Hara said afterwards. “We didn’t play as well as we’re capable of but when you’re able to overcome the adversity the way we did it’s a tremendous win that our team can build on.”

Orlando struggled to keep the Soul out of the end zone for much of the night before picking off two passes in the second half. The biggest turnover came while trailing 40-39 when Paul Griffin tracked down an errant pass by Philadelphia quarterback Ryan Vena with less than seven minutes to play.

The Preds answered by taking the led for the first time on a six-yard touchdown pass from Nick Hill to Bobby Sippio with 3 minutes, 30 seconds remaining.

Hill then engineered the final drive with completions to Robert Quiroga and T.T. Toliver after the Soul reclaimed the lead with just 44 seconds remaining.

“We just wanted to come back and redeem ourselves from last week,” Toliver said, referring to a 21-point lead the Preds squandered in its one-point loss to Arizona.

Hill passed for 309 yards and six touchdowns on 28-of-40 attempts. Toliver led the team with 13 catches for 131 yards and three scores while Sippio scored four touchdowns on nine receptions for 105 yards. Quiroga caught seven passes for 84 yards.

Orlando salvaged an inconsistent first half by recording its first defensive stop of the game in the final seconds of the second quarter when Arrion Dixon blocked a field goal attempt as time ran out.

Orlando trailed at the break 27-18.

“You could see the body language of our guys when we blocked that kick,” O’Hara said. “That gave them some momentum and some realization that we’ve got a fight on our hands here.”

The Soul took a 27-12 led with nine minutes to play in the first half when Hill’s pass to Quiroga bounced off a fan along the sideline and into the hands of Tanner Varner, who took it back 36 yards for a touchdown.

The Preds answered on its next possession as Hill found Sippio in the corner of the end zone from 17 yards out.

Rayshaun Kizer finished with six tackles and Marlon Moye-Moore picked off his fourth pass of the season. Johnnie Balous and Mark Robinson were each in on sacks.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

In front of an announce crowd of 7,933 at the Florida Citrus Bowl Saturday night the Orlando City Lions won its inaugural home opener 3-0 over FC New York (0-1-0, 0 points).

The Lions (1-1-0, 3 points) controlled the latter part of the first half and most of the second half in the win.

Both teams played solid defense over the opening 40 minutes before Max Griffin scored the first goal in Orlando City history from the left side in the 43rd minute.

The Lions controlled the tempo from there. In the 54th minute, Yordany Alvarez scored off of an initial shot from Jamie Watson, which was saved and rebounded by Lawrence Olum who made the pass that would lead to the 2-0 advantage.

Griffin scored the final goal when Lewis Neal sent a cross in front of the goal in the 71st minute.

“I thought as the game was going on we gained more confidence, especially after the first goal by (Max) Griffin,” Orlando City coach Adrian Heath said.

“We were a lot better than we were last week. I am really pleased everyone connected with the club as well. The club has worked so hard to make our first home game a special night, which I told our players as a bit of inspiration. There was a great atmosphere tonight.”

Orlando City goes on the road this Saturday to face the Charlotte Eagles.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

– Women’s College Lacrosse – No. 9 Rollins 14, Edinboro 7

Two Tars tallied hat tricks to help Rollins improve to 8-3 on the season. Marissa Giannerini and Sophie Townsend each scored three goals while Erica Pagliarulo finished with two goals and an assist.

– College Softball – No. 12 Tampa 3, No. 7 Rollins 1

Rollins dropped the final game in the series to Tampa, giving the Tars its first loss of the season in Sunshine State Conference competition. Rollins saw its 32-game winning streak end as they dropped to 34-2 overall and 11-1 in the SSC. Jessica Moreland finished 2-for-3 with an RBI. Hope Bitzer pitched five innings and struck out seven batters in relief.

– College Baseball – No. 20 Southern Miss 5, No. 23 UCF 2

Following a 13-2 loss on Saturday, UCF got swept by Southern Miss after falling 5-2 in the third and final game of the series. UCF trailed 3-1 in the fourth inning but was unable to tie the game when Erik Hempe had his line drive towards left field turned into a double play by the Golden Eagles.

= SATURDAY, April 2, 2011 =

– Women’s College Track & Field – Florida Relays

Two UCF school records fell at the Florida Relays in Gainesville as Dominique Booker, Aurieyall Scott, Lynne Layne and Sheila Paul set new standards. The 4×100-meter relay time of 43.75, set just the week before, was replaced by a 43.53 effort. The 4×200-meter relay mark of 1:32.81 from three years ago was replaced by a time of 1:26.34.

– College Baseball – Rollins 15, Lynn 7

The Tars dropped the first game of the doubleheader 12-3 before returning to the field and snapping a five-game losing streak. Rollins jumped out to a 9-3 lead after scoring runs in the second, third and fourth innings. Brian Lattanzi went 3-for-5 and John Avanzino finished 2-for-4 with 5 RBI. Matt White got the win with four strikeouts over 5.2 innings to help the Tars improve to 19-14 overall and 2-7 in the Sunshine State Conference.

– Arena Football League – Arizona 48, Predators 47

Nick Hill was intercepted in the final minute of the game before the Arizona Rattlers went on to score a touchdown and two-point conversion with eight seconds left to shock the Orlando Predators. Arizona outscored the Preds 22-6 in the final quarter after Orlando jumped out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter of play. Hill threw five touchdowns but was intercepted twice while Bobby Sippio led the Preds with 12 receptions for 149 yards and a score.

– Florida Football Alliance – Rage 37, Duval 6

Former UCF and University High School quarterback Kyle Israel threw touchdown passes to Preston McGann and Jeremiah Chatman as the Orlando Rage closed out the regular season with a 10-0 mark. With the win over the Duval Panthers, the Rage wrapped up consecutive unbeaten seasons and improved to 31-1 over the past three years. Postseason play begins this weekend. The Rage will host the winner between the Jacksonville Knights and Daytona Beach Wildcats on April 16.

– United Soccer Leagues – Richmond 2, Lions 0

Richmond scored on a penalty kick near the end of the first half and tacked on another goal in the 84th minute to turn away Orlando City in its first-ever USL Pro game.

– Women’s College Tennis – No. 4 Barry 8, No. 9 Rollins 1

Rollins senior Margaret Junker, ranked No. 17 in the nation, won the lone match for the Tars as she defeated No. 33 Angie Werschel 7-5, 3-6, 10-5.

= FRIDAY, April 1, 2011 =

– College Baseball – No. 20 Southern Miss 6, No. 23 UCF 5

UCF manager Terry Rooney and pitcher Ben Lively were tossed from the game, but the Knights nearly pulled the upset after being tied at 3-all in the ninth. UCF fell to 19-7 overall and 2-2 in Conference USA. The Knights committed a season-high five errors and are now 4-3 against ranked teams.

– Men’s College Tennis – No. 9 Rollins 6, No. 26 Saint Leo 3

The Tars improved to 12-7 overall and 3-2 in the Sunshine State Conference as No. 5 Jeff Morris overcame a loss in the first set to put away Matt Nicholson-Lewis 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Morris and Arturo Baravalle were upended in doubles play by the No. 23 pairing of Nicholson-Lewis and Victor Lozier 8-5.

– Women’s College Lacrosse – No. 2 Lock Haven 12, No. 9 Rollins 7

Tied at 5-all at the halftime break, Rollins (7-3) could not keep up with unbeaten Lock Haven (9-0) while on the road. Tori Snow and Marissa Giannerini each scored two goals in the loss for Rollins.

– Women’s College Track & Field – Florida Relays

UCF freshman Aurieyall Scott set a new school record in the 200 meter with a time of 22.98 at the Florida Relays in Gainesville. Classmate Dominique Booker previously held the mark at 23.70, set last week at the UCF Invitational.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

Robert Quiroga (Photo by Rami Rotlewicz)

Earlier in the week defensive back Rayshaun Kizer and wide receiver/linebacker Robert Quiroga were named Arena Football League Players of the Week following Orlando’s 68-53 win over the Utah Blaze at the new Amway Center.

Kizer was awarded defensive player of the week after leading the Predators with 10 tackles, three interceptions, two pass breakups and a forced fumble. Kizer now has four interceptions on the season.

Quiroga was named ironman of the week after catching eight passes for 103 yards and three touchdowns while also finishing with 3.5 tackles and returning two kicks for 15 yards.

Predators quarterback Nick Hill was a nominee for the league’s offensive player of the week award.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

Prior to its home opener against FC New York on April 9 at the Florida Citrus Bowl, the Orlando City Lions of the United Soccer Leagues Pro Division get the regular season underway today in Virginia against the Richmond Kickers at 4 p.m.

“I expect it to be a very difficult game, if not one of our most difficult games of the season,” Orlando City coach Adrian Heath said. “They are traditionally very strong at home.”

Last season the Kickers were runners-up in the USL Second Division title game, losing to the Charleston Battery. Orlando City midfielder and assistant coach Ian Fuller scored the winning goal for Charleston in that game.

The Kickers finished the preseason 4-0-0, including a win over last season’s USSF Division II runner-up, Carolina Railhawks FC. The Lions went 6-2-0 in the preseason.

Orlando City midfielder Jamie Watson is a player to keep an eye on as he’s been named one of “Ten Players to Watch” by Soccer America for the 2011 USL PRO season. After being injured early in the preseason, Watson rebounded in his last two matches to score two goals.

“Anything less than a very good performance, I don’t think, will be enough for us to get a result,” said Heath.  “We expect a really physical game.”

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

– Men’s College Lacrosse – Lenoir-Rhyne 13, Rollins 12

Despite a program record six goals in one game by junior Austin Ricci the Rollins Tars dropped to 2-8 overall and 0-6 in the Deep South Conference on Sunday. It’s the first-ever conference win for Lenoir-Rhyne, who broke an 11-all tie with under eight minutes to play to take the lead for good.

– College Softball – UAB 5, UCF 3

The Knights allowed five runs in the third inning and never recovered as they dropped to 12-22 overall and 3-6 in Conference USA. The Blazers (24-9, 8-1 C-USA) took two of three games after splitting with UCF on Saturday.

= SATURDAY, March 26, 2011

– Arena Football League – Predators 68, Blaze 53

Orlando Predators quarterback Nick Hill went 24-of-36 for 331 yards and eight touchdowns while Rayshaun Kizer intercepted three passes and ran one back for a score Saturday night. The Predators (2-0) downed the Utah Blaze (1-1) in its first game at the new Amway Center in front of 12,186 fans.

– Women’s College Track & Field – UCF Invitational

Freshman Dominique Booker set two new school records on Saturday during the second day of competition at the UCF Invitational. Booker set a new mark in the 200-meter run with a time of 23.70, good for fourth place and enough to surpass the previous mark set by Sonnisha Williams (23.79) just last week. Booker also joined Aurieyall Scott, Sheila Paul and Tyler Smith in the 4×400-meter relay, where the group took first place with a time of 43.73 (previous mark was 45.05).

– United Soccer Leagues – Lions 2, USF 0

The Orlando City Lions wrapped up its preseason schedule Saturday in Tampa, where they got goals from Yordany Alvarez (30th minute) and Jamie Watson (60th) on assists from Devorn Jorsling in the win. The Lions finished the preseason schdule 6-2 with wins over Philadelphia Union (1-0) and Toronto FC (1-0) of Major League Soccer as well as Rollins (3-1), UCF (5-1) and Stetson (5-3). Orlando City lost to FC Dallas (1-0) and BK Hacken (3-2). The reguler season begins this weekend on the road against Richmond.

– Men’s College Tennis – UCF 4, NO. 53 DePaul 3

Facing their seventh nationally-ranked opponent in a row, the Knights clinched the win over DePaul when freshman Mitch Thams won the final two sets of a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 match against Filip Dzanko at No. 5 singles.

= FRIDAY, March 25, 2011

– College Baseball – UCF 7, No. 23 Rice 2

Despite a school-record eight walks, freshman Ben Lively improved to 5-0 on the season while D.J. Hicks went 3-for-4 at the plate and pitched a scoreless inning in UCF’s Conference USA opener at Rice (15-10, 0-1 C-USA). Lively is the first pitcher at UCF to start the season perfect in five games since Ray Rodriguez and Darren Newlin did so in 2005. Joe Rogers picked up the save. The Knights trailed 2-0 after four innings before scoring three times in the top of the fifth. UCF turned a season-high four double plays in the win and improved to 17-5 overall and 1-0 in C-USA.

– Women’s College Track & Field – UCF Invitational

Sophomore Sonnisha Williams broke her own school record in the long jump by five-and-a-half inches to take first place in the event during the opening day of the UCF Invitational. Williams went 20-11.75/6.39m at the UCF Track and Field Complex to best the previous mark of 20-6.25/6.25m set last May at the NCAA East Regional. Competition picks back up on Saturday with Florida, Miami, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Tennessee and Rhode Island taking part.

– National Basketball Association – Magic 95, Nets 85

The Magic won its fifth game in a row after pulling away from New Jersey with just over eight minutes to play in the fouth quarter. Hedo Turkoglu went 8-for-11 from the field for 20 points, 13 assists and no turnovers in the win while Dwight Howard finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Already playing without J.J. Redick, Orlando (47-26) lost Jameer Nelson to a knee injury in the first half.

– College Softball – Rollins 10, Lynn 0

The Tars improved to 30-1 overall and 7-0 in the Sunshine State Conference in the opening game of its series against Lynn (6-26, 1-6 SSC). Rollins scored eight runs in the second inning as Krista Rodden, Lake Mary alum Hope Bitzer, Winter Springs alum Christine Roser and Hilary Brown drove in runs. Kristen Frame, the reigning confernce player of the week, struck out six in five innings.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

Question: With the season now in full swing what are the AFL’s overall business goals for this year?

Jerry Kurz: Our business goals are the same as we had last year: to provide the fantastic, dynamic and tremendous sport of arena football to our fans with an economic model that gives us a blueprint for success as opposed to a blueprint for disaster.

Q: In what way has the current economy impacted the league?

JK: There’s no doubt that the former AFL – what I now call the DAFL (the Default Arena Football League) – business model just could not be sustained, not only because of its challenges, but the economy. The business model we have now, put into effect by our ownership for the launch of the season last year, is one that gives teams the opportunity to survive in this economy. I don’t care what kind of business it is, any kind of business has to have the ability to spend within its means and to only spend what it has a chance of bringing in.

Q: With the new Amway Center set to host its first AFL game this weekend, how do you feel having a new arena in Orlando will impact the Preds?

JK: I think tremendously so. In talking to the ownership, the players and the fans there, all the information I get is that people are excited not only to come out and see a game there, but we know some people are going to come for the first time to an Arena Football League game just to see the building. And that’s OK because we know if our fans come one time to see a game we’ve got them hooked, because our game is that exciting.

Q: Despite the cancelation of the 2009 season, what has allowed the AFL to sustain itself over the course of two-plus decades?

JK: The fact that it’s a great game. I always say that there was nothing wrong with our game. What the difficulty was, was that the economic model was broken and we needed to change that. Nothing was wrong with the game from the first time Jim Foster invented it until now. It’s still the great game that it was and is. The game is so exciting and the fans feel so much a part of it and enjoy it, while the teams continue to be such a part of the community. That’s what’s allowed us to survive so long as a sport.

Q: Troy Burgeron and Rod Windsor are two guys with AFL experience who have returned to the league after spending 2010 on NFL practice squads. How has the NFL labor situation impacted the Arena Football League thus far?

JK: Nothing directly, and we didn’t think it would. We want the NFL to come back. We’re as much of fans and supporters of the NFL as anyone. What you have to remember is when the game was created and we formed the league it was always formed as a supplement to the NFL, never in competition. Never have we ever thought of ourselves, placed ourselves, held ourselves out to be competition to the NFL. It was purposely put at a time of the year where it would supplement for people who wanted more football. You can look at our history. We’ve never held ourselves out, and continue not to hold ourselves out there like that. The fact that they are going through some labor strife is something that’s going to be resolved, but we don’t see that impacting us one way or the other. It’s great having Troy and Rod come to play for us, but you have to remember they came from us to the NFL. They got their ability to showcase their talent, to demonstrate that they had the ability to move to the next level by being in arena football just like Kurt Warner. To get them to come back to us is a very good thing, and appreciated. However, they already know the value of playing in the Arena Football League and we hope more players know that as well… not so much NFL players who are playing now but players who want to get to the NFL and may not get drafted, who may not make it as a free agent, but can hone their skills playing in the Arena Football League in order to reach their dream.

Q: In light of the United Football League’s struggles, do you think any football league will ever be able to successfully challenge the NFL in the minds of football fans?

JK: No. And I don’t know why anybody wants to. There are enough football fans out there for multiple leagues. I’ve always wondered why leagues would come and want to challenge. There was one that started with an “X” (XFL) that thought they were just going to be a direct competition. But look at how well college and professional football work together in the fall. They play on different days and there are plenty of fans at college stadiums across the country as well as the next day on Sunday filling up the NFL stadiums. I think that the attitude the NFL has always had and stated to us, from Commissioner Paul Tagliabue on down to Commissioner Roger Goodell, is that the NFL supports football at all levels from youth football to other professional leagues. They have been nothing but supportive of us and I don’t understand why someone believes that they have to be antagonistic to the NFL. There are enough football fans for us all to co-exist.

Q: One of the original AFL cities (Pittsburgh) has returned to the league after a 21-year absence. The league has also returned to five other cities for the 2011 season. What are your thoughts on league expansion moving forward and what markets could play a part?

JK: There’s a ton of markets… Southern California was a good market for us before and we’d like to have more teams in the Northwest and Northeast. About expansion, many leagues have made the mistake over the years of expanding to just expand. We won’t do that. We’re going to expand strategically where there’s good markets, good buildings, a great fan base and corporate partnership, because you need all those things to be successful. And talking about ownership, you need good local ownership because we want our teams to be year-round parts of the community. Expansion needs to be done in a consistent, logical, steady and strong growth. We have no set number to grow each year. We’ll grow as it’s appropriate.

Q: Looking ahead, where do he sees the league in five or 10 years from now?

JK: I’m asked that question all the time, ever since I’ve been involved in the league since the beginning. We’ll still be the same great, tremendous, fan-friendly sport that we’ve always been. We need to continue to crawl before we walk and before we run. At times we each think we should move faster than appropriate. I wish the UFL and other leagues well, however, I believe the reason we’ll succeed now where other leagues might face challenges is that we’re never going to forget who we are and how we need to keep our sport going.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

In case you missed it, the Tuskers lost the UFL title game against the Las Vegas Locomotives 23-20 while the Montreal Alouettes defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 21-18 for the CFL title.

Former UCF football player Keith Shologan finished out his season with Saskatchewan at defensive tackle, making 30 tackles and recording three sacks. Former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson and former Florida quarterback Chris Leak saw playing time this season for Montreal.

– Rollins Soccer Caught In Snowstorm –

The most surprising thing about the Rollins College men’s soccer team playing in the Division II National Championship game this past Saturday was not that they qualified in the first place, but rather the weather conditions they were forced to play in. If you’ve yet to see it, check out the video highlights at NCAA. The Tars lost 3-2 to Northern Kentucky in weather more suitable for a football game, of the American kind.

The Rollins College roster featured several local high school alumni, including seniors Chris Cummings (Ocala St. John Lutheran), Stephen Wright (Winter Park), Bradley Welch (Cypress Creek) and Blade Zych (Lake Brantley). Plenty of local talent returns for next season. View the Tars roster at Rollins Sports.

– High School Football Finals Take Shape –

The high school football state finals begin this weekend at the Citrus Bowl with four games taking place between teams in the lower classifications.

Friday’s finals include Warner Christian Academy vs. Glades Day in Class 1B at 1 p.m., and Trinity Christian Academy vs. American Heritage in Class 1A at 7 p.m. On Saturday it’s Trinity Catholic vs. University School of NSU in Class 2B at 1 p.m., and Cocoa vs. Glades Central in Class 2A at 7 p.m.

The marquee prep football game of the weekend, though, is the Class 6A semifinal between favored Dr. Phillips at Seminole on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The state title games for classes 3A-6A take place Dec. 17-18.

A complete lineup is available at FHSAA.

– College Football Bowl Games Announced –

On Sunday the NCAA announced this season’s bowl game matchups, including the opponent for UCF at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn. and the matchups for both contests in Orlando at the Florida Citrus Bowl.

UCF (10-3) is ranked No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and will take on Georgia (6-6) on Dec. 31 at 3:30 p.m. The Knights faced the Bulldogs just once before, losing 24-23 in Athens during a regular season game in 1999. UCF Coach George O’Leary previously faced Georgia on seven different occasions as head coach at Georgia Tech. UCF lost its only trip to the Liberty Bowl against Mississippi State 10-3 following the 2007 season.

Florida Citrus Sports chose to pair West Virginia (9-3) against N.C. State (8-4) in the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 28 at 6:30 p.m., and Alabama (9-3) against Michigan State (11-1) in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1 at 1 p.m.

Check back for plenty more coverage of the upcoming bowl season.

– Magic’s Dwight Howard Best In November –

You see where Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for November?

He finished fifth in the Conference in scoring (21.8 points per game) and third in the league with a .594 shooting percentage. Howard also ranked fourth in the league in rebounds (12.1) while helping get the Magic off to a 13-4 start. It’s the fifth time in Howard’s career that he’s earned the league’s Eastern Conference monthly honor, also doing do in April 2006, November 2006, November 2007 and December 2007.

Among the highlights for Howard last month were:

Nov. 3 vs. Minnesota: Recorded 18 points, 16 rebounds and a season-high eight blocks in a 128-86 win over the Timberwolves.

Nov. 5 vs. New Jersey: Tallied 30 points and 16 rebounds in a 105-90 victory over the Nets.

Nov. 24 vs. Miami: Registered 24 points to go along with 18 rebounds in a 111-100 victory over the Heat.

Nov. 27 @ Washington: Compiled a season-high 32 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and hit the game-winning  shot to defeat the Wizards by a score of 100-99.

– UCF Men’s Basketball Out To Fast Start –

The UCF men’s basketball team is out to a 7-0 start for the first time at the Division I level, meaning the Knights have yet to lose under new head coach Donnie Jones. For their efforts, UCF has received votes in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls for the first time since 2006.

On Saturday, following the football team’s Conference USA championship win, the hoops team did away with Southeastern Louisiana 74-49.

Sophomore Keith Clanton tied the school record for blocks in a game when he turned away eight shots in the win. Clanton also finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds, which ties his career high. Tony Davis also blocked eight shots on Dec. 1, 2007 against USF. John Friday blocked seven shots in a game twice in January 1987.

The Knights play again on Saturday, Dec. 11 at UCF Arena against Bethune-Cookman at 5 p.m.

– Edgewater & Timber Creek Alumni In D-II Title Game –

Edgewater High School alum Kaleigh Cunningham finished her collegiate volleyball career as an outside hitter with Tampa in the Division II National Championship on Saturday in Louisville.

Tampa (31-4), who went 15-1 in the Sunshine State Conference, dropped the title match 25-23, 23-25, 26-24, 25-10 to four-time defending champion Concordia-St. Paul (32-4). (See footage at NCAA)

Cunningham finished the season with 313 kills, 220 digs and 12 service aces. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Yingling (Timber Creek) finished with 266 kills, 369 digs, 25 aces and 24 blocks for Tampa.

– Former UCF Women’s Soccer Player In D-III Title Game –

Former UCF women’s soccer player Alex Brandt finished her sophomore season at Messiah College with an appearance in the Division III National Championship.

Messiah (24-1) lost 2-1 to Hardin-Simmons (24-0-1). Brandt was credited with her 13th assist on the season with 15 minutes to play, when she set up Alicia Frey just outside the box for a goal. (See footage at NCAA)

Brandt, who was named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team in 2009, started in all 25 games this season and scored eight goals as a midfielder. She started 23 games for UCF while finishing the year with two goals and three assists.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –

The United Football League’s title game came down to the final play as Florida Tuskers kicker Nick Novak had his 45-yard attempt blocked at the line of scrimmage by Alfred Malone. That gave the Las Vegas Locomotives its second-straight championship with a 23-20 win in Omaha, Neb.

Tuskers WR Calvin Russell eludes a Las Vegas defender while making one of his four catches on the day. Russell finished with 72 yards receiving. (Photo by Scott Miller/UFL PHOTO)

Last year Las Vegas (6-3) defeated Florida (5-4) 20-17 in overtime for the title.

It was two big plays by the Las Vegas defense – a safety and a blocked kick –  which allowed the Locomotives to pull out the win this time around in front of 15,310 fans at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Trailing 21-20, the Tuskers regained possession of the ball on its own 14-yard line with 5:41 remaining. But on the first play from scrimmage, a faulty snap got past quarterback Chris Greisen, who recovered the ball but was sacked in his own end zone for a safety by Las Vegas defensive end Josh Cooper.

With a 23-20 lead the Locomotives managed just one first down after the free kick and the Tuskers took over on their own 10 with 1:45 remaining.

From there, Greisen worked the ball down the field as he hit Cortez Hankton on the tenth play of the drive to move Florida to the Las Vegas 22. After spiking the ball with 17 seconds left, the Tuskers took one shot at the end zone with no timeouts left.

That’s when with his back to the ball, cornerback Coye Francis made contact with Hankton in the end zone before the ball had arrived, but no penalty flag was thrown. Then the Tuskers were late getting the field goal team on the field, causing a 5-yard delay-of-game penalty which pushed back Novak’s attempt in the final seconds.

“We had to burn a couple of timeouts early in the half and that really hurt us on the last drive,” Tuskers Coach Jay Gruden said. “Then we thought we had a PI (pass interference) in the end zone and didn’t get the call. Not sure what the definition of PI is, because usually when the defender has his back to the ball and is tugging on the receiver you get the call, but I don’t know.

“Still, you have to give credit to Vegas, they played a hell of game. We knew it was going to be tight and come down to the end, unfortunately it didn’t go our way.”

Florida's Chris Greisen takes off on a 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter before Las Vegas went on to win its second UFL championship. (Photo by Scott Miller/UFL PHOTO)

Both teams piled up big numbers offensively.  Greisen hit 24 of 42 passes for 346 yards and no interceptions while rushing for two touchdowns. Florida also ran for 122 yards and compiled 468 yards of total offense. Chase Clement was outstanding for Las Vegas as he played his best game of the season. Using a variety of rollouts to elude the Tuskers defense, he completed 16 of 25 passes for 237 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Locomotives also rushed for more than 100 yards in the game and compiled 343 yards of total offense.

Novak gave Florida the lead at 10-7 on a 22-yard field goal at the 3:13 mark of the first period. Clement’s 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end George Wrightster put Las Vegas ahead for the first time at 14-10 with 5:56 left in the first half. Florida marched 74-yards on eight plays to take a 17-14 lead in the third quarter when Greisen scored for the second time on the day. Las Vegas quickly responded, though, when Hakim Hill took a pitchout, got to the outside and ran 37-yards for a touchdown to put the Locos up for good at 21-17.

“Overall, I thought Chris (Greisen) was outstanding. Our line did a decent job of keeping the pressure off, but we made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes on offense and defense that we haven’t been making the past couple of weeks. A few false starts, a botched snap, and having to use those timeouts early in the second half all factored in,” Gruden said.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com or follow @OrlandoSportsJC and Carnahan Chronicles) –