LARGO — If Thursday’s semifinals of the Class 3A, District 10 tournament are any indication, tonight’s final should be a shootout. Top seed Largo blasted No. 4 Lakewood 8-0. No. 2 Tarpon Springs followed with a 7-4 win over No. 3 Dunedin.
The Spongers (8-6-1) play the Packers (12-6-5) at 7 tonight.
“We got where we want to be,” Tarpon Springs coach John Freiermuth said. “We get another shot at Largo. That’s all our girls are talking about.”
In the first game, Largo got six first-half goals from five players and eased to a mercy rule win that was called with 33 minutes left.
“We possessed the ball very well,” Largo coach Dan Flynn said. “That’s something we’ve been working on in practice. It’s nice to see it work in a game.”
Largo got quick goals from Helena Wolfson and Toni Kamensky. Ashley Blanchard followed in the 12th minute when she buried a wide-open shot about 5 yards in front of the net.
Kyla Kremer, who scored three goals, got her first goal with 13 minutes to play in the first half when she knocked in a ball bobbled by the keeper. Lilly Zaleski made it 5-0 with eight minutes to play when she redirected a cross by Lea Mandel. Kremer made it 6-0 just before halftime from 20 yards.
Kennedy Flynn scored just five minutes into the second half. Kremer’s third goal two minutes later ended the game.
In the second game, it seemed to take a Dunedin goal to wake up the Spongers. With 21 minutes to play in the first half, Olivia Welsh converted a left-footer from the left side that sailed into the upper-right corner.
“We had that problem last time we played them (a 1-0 win),” Freiermuth said. “It took a while to get going. But we ended up getting a lot of opportunities and probably should have scored a few more.”
The opportunities came after the first water break. With 12 minutes left in the half, Allysa Young cleaned up a loose ball in front of the net after a corner kick to make it 1-1. Then the floodgates opened.
Four minutes later, Alison Ward scored on a curling shot from deep in the right corner that went into the upper-left side of the goal. Just two minutes later, Riley Magoulis made it 3-1 on a blast from 20 yards. And seconds after that, Ward scored on a loose ball in front of the net.
Kaliope Koulianos scored 10 minutes into the second half when she headed in a corner kick from Soleil Duplain. Welsh scored again four minutes later to make it 5-2, but the Spongers’ lead ballooned to 7-2 until the final two minutes. That’s when Dunedin tacked on two late goals, including a third by Welsh.
A-6: Rout puts Chargers in final
Shorecrest, the top seed, cruised to a 6-0 victory over host Canterbury in the semifinals behind Skyler Ellenburg’s two goals.
“Canterbury was scrappy the whole game,” Shorecrest coach Neal Wolfrath said. “We were able to move the ball and create enough chances to win.”
The Chargers play Calvary Christian in tonight’s final at 7. The Warriors beat Indian Rocks Christian in the other semifinal.