Charlotte Tarpons against Island Coast – High School Soccer Results

Nov 22, 2011

The Tarpon varsity soccer program took on Island Coast last evening at home on November 22nd, 2011. Kickoff was scheduled for 8:00 PM but action got started early as a result of the girls varsity program routing their opponent with a score of eight goals to zero that ended with the girls Island Coast program forfeiting the match.

Kickoff for the boys team started at 7:40 PM as scattered rain clouds provided on and off rain that made for very slick pitch conditions. The magority of play took place in the middle of the field thorughout the first half as both teams found early difficulty in judging how to play the force of passes and how the ball would react on the grass in addition to the volatility of balls played due to the reaction of synthetic material of players cleats that reside as players footwear of choice these days. The Charlotte defensive line looked fantastic in the first half clearing nearly all of the long balls played into the box with the Tarpons keeper stepping up to snag any balls that got past them which was a very rare occurence.
The Tarpons attack in the first half consisted of long balls played from both the center and outside backs of the back line as well as play brought into the attacking third when charlotte midfielders stepped into poorly played island coast balls and dribbled up into their half.

Play kicked off into the second half with both teams trapped in a dead lock tie and pressure building among each squad to convert the go ahead goal. Tarpon players were victims of a very physical Island Coast squad who recorded two yellow cards during the second half over five fouls commited, some of which were deliberate and could have resulted in injury. Island coast would find the first goal of the match late in the half when a attempted shot on goal by a midfielder took an accidental deflection off the side of one of their strikers and rolled into the side netting of charlottes goal to give them a one to zero edge. The added pressure of being behind gave tarpon players a little more confidence in their step with Charlotte piecing together passes and continually bringing the ball just outside of their eighteen yard line but finding heavy resistance from a defensive dominated formation fielded by Island Coast. Charlotte would piece together a quick one-two pass combination in thier attacking third and forward Devin Coffee would recieve the pass before turning in stride with the ball at his feet into the eighteen yard line before being dragged down with a heavy foul which resulted in a yellow card for the player and a tarpon penalty kick during stoppage time. Tarpon captain Keoni Felipe would step up to the ball and struck the ball with the side of his boot putting it into the side netting at a speed to fast for the keeper to block and leveling the scoreboard at one to one. Twenty seconds later the referee would blow his whistle signaling play dead and the end of the game.

Head Coach Mike Thomas would state in a post game interview that he could not be any more proud of the way his players kept their composure throughout the course of the game, Coach Thomas was also pleased with the work ethic of his players for the full eighty minutes of play and praised them for taking it up to another level late in the game, especially after going down a goal late in the game. The Tarpons were without several key starters this evening as center midfielder Max Helgamo and Chuck O’ Donnell are still recovering from injuries, Coach Thomas has also jsut recieved several players from fall sports who are now finished with the prior commitment and will begin easing them into the lineup as they get caught up with the team in practice. Coach Thomas said that the soccer program will begin work this afternoon in practice and continue to build the team chemistry with the new additions of new faces and old ones recovering from injury to the squad over the break. The Tarpons will continue the season after the holiday break as they travel to Venice High School on December 1st, 2011.