SPRING HILL — All season Carrollwood Day School split goalkeeping duties between Corey Shamley and Nolan Colledge, an unusual setup. But in Saturday’s Class A, District 5 championship its advantages came to light.
A motivated Shamley, who sat out Friday’s semifinal victory, made several clutch saves in a 4-0 victory over host Bishop McLaughlin.
Meanwhile, Hurricanes goalie Jason Kass suffered a blow to the head in a second-half collision and left the game. Unlike CDS, Bishop McLaughlin had no true alternative to turn to. Defender Hoon Jeon put on an orange mesh jersey and gave it a go, but CDS turned a one-goal game into a rout in the last five minutes.
“Both of those guys (Shamley and Colledge) deserve to play every game,” said acting coach Rob Nugent, who took over because head coach Jim Harte was attending a previous engagement at a coaching clinic. “Nolan played well last night, but we decided to go with Corey.”
Shamley’s biggest save came with less than six minutes to play, the score still 1-0 and the Hurricanes pressing. Marcus Valancius beat the defense and got off a strong shot only to have Shamley snare it.
About a minute later Jack Pironti took advantage of a Jeon bobble for a 2-0 lead.
“If we score there, who knows how the game goes?” wondered Bishop coach John Mayer. “We had our chances.”
CDS tacked on scores by Alex Ham and John Frost.
Carrollwood Day (16-4-1) will host Indian Rocks Christian at 7 p.m. Thursday, while Bishop McLaughlin (14-2-2) visits Shorecrest in region opener. Both of Bishop’s losses have come against the Patriots.
Pironti helped get the Patriots on the board. Midway through the first half he sent a curling ball down the right wing that Sammy Muto ran on to and slid underneath Kass.
The right side of Kass’ face was swollen after the game.
“If we get everybody back healthy Thursday, we’ll be in good shape. But we had 4-5 players out of position,” Mayer said.