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Hurricanes Cannot Weather Early Storm, Fall 3-0

Jesuit 3, Palm Harbor U. 0

Eric Horchy/SUNCOAST NEWS

Palm Harbor's Ishmail Kamara leaps in front of Jesuit's Sam Kusha for a header.

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By Eric Horchy | The Suncoast News

Published: February 1, 2008

TAMPA - TAMPA - Palm Harbor University soccer coach Alex Delgado certainly desired a more favorable finish in Thursday night's quarterfinal regional playoff match at Jesuit High, but he could not have asked for a stronger effort from his Hurricane players on the field.

Stunned after falling behind 2-0 less than six minutes into play, Palm Harbor staggered, but never gave in.

"I give all my nine seniors all the credit," Delgado said after the eventual 3-0 season-ending loss. "They laid it all out there for me until the final whistle and that's all I can ask for."

Jesuit (25-2-0) rushed out to the early lead on their home turf after just 3:30 minutes with an aggressive attack.

Junior midfielder Keith Sierra, who along with forward Ali Van Gurp pestered the Hurricane defense all night, slipped into the goal box to net the game's first score.

A little more than two minutes later, the Tigers struck again. Senior Josh Menendez was awarded a crucial penalty kick after contact inside the box and promptly booted home the second goal.

"The most important parts of the game are the first five minutes and the last five before halftime," Delgado said. "We didn't weather the storm. Two quick goals are rough on anybody. I thought we would have the offense and capability to get them back, but we came up against a great defensive team and they showed why they can compete in any class."

Delgado was referring to Jesuit's move up to Class 5A play this season from being a 4A program in years prior.

Tigers' midfielder Russell Moore capped off the night's scoring with an impressive mix of speed, agility and footwork 8:50 minutes into the second half. Streaking down the right side through any Hurricane defender who approached, Moore finally planted and cracked an angled shot by goalkeeper Max Gallin for the 3-0 lead.

Despite the deficit and defeat increasingly eminent with each tick of the clock, Palm Harbor (19-3-2) never stopped pressing. In the final 10 minutes, the Hurricanes threatened on five separate strong scoring opportunities that they just couldn't quite finish.

After two straight state championship game runs – and 2006's title – this Palm Harbor team was not expected to turn many heads. In his first year at the helm, Delgado won 19 games and proved this bunch of young men were fully capable of playing with the best teams around.

Jesuit now advances to play Tuesday night on the road against Hurricane district rival, East Lake, who dispatched of Plant, 6-1.

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