Charles Rich
Its defense won't rest along Florida's West Coast.
The defensive unit of the St. Francis High soccer team must fend
off some of the top Florida-based programs at the prestigious Admiral
Invitational in Tampa, Fla.
Things have turned out well so far for the Golden Knights, who
advanced to the tournament championship match of the Elite Bracket
with a come-from-behind 2-1 win against Seminole (Fla.) at the Ed
Radice Sports Complex on Tuesday night.
St. Francis (7-2-2) will meet Gaither, the top-ranked team in
Florida, in the championship match at 1 p.m. PST today.
Midfielder Clark Sanchez-Figueras and forward Jeff Buddenbohn each
scored a goal for the Golden Knights, who won the Mission League
crown last season. St. Francis goalkeeper Nick Goldreich finished
with six saves and caught a break when a Seminole shot struck the
crossbar with about two minutes remaining.
St. Francis Coach Glen Appels said the Golden Knights' defense
recovered nicely after surrendering a goal in the fifth minute.
Seminole scored 16 goals in its first three tournament matches.
"We didn't panic when we fell behind," Appels said. "We played
terrific defense, and its our best quality win this season.
"It doesn't get any easier for us [today]."
Sanchez-Figueras knotted the match at 1 in the 12th minute, and then Buddenbohn scored off a free kick from Sanchez-Figueras for the
winning goal in the 20th minute.
St. Francis senior forward Chris Hertz and junior sweeper Ari
Hughes played well for the Golden Knights, who fell to La Canada and
Santa Barbara before departing for Florida last week. St. Francis
reversed course since arriving in Florida. The Golden Knights won
their pool-play with victories against Florida-based Alonso and
Satellite on Monday.
