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Heading To The Next Level

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By NICHOLAS J.E. MURRAY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 16, 2008

BRANDON - Freedom goaltender Chris Burt was still in a bit of a fog. It was understandable, considering the game he'd just played.

"I don't know what to say," Burt said. "Back-to-back championships. It's hard to sink in right now."

Burt made 23 saves, including a jaw-dropper in overtime, as the Patriots beat Newsome Blue 2-1 to win the pure division title of the Hillsborough High School Hockey League on Monday night.

With the game tied at 1 and 25 seconds to play in regulation, Freedom defenseman Carey Coleman was sent to the penalty box for tripping. The Patriots were able to see out the remainder of the period, but 16 seconds into the five-minute overtime, Newsome almost snatched a winner.

Working the puck on the power play, the Wolves worked to the puck around to Mikey Semago in the left slot. Semago shot toward the open left side of the net, only for Burt to sprawl across the crease and keep the puck out.

"I was just doing what I had to do to make the save," Burt said.

The Wolves wouldn't get a better chance to win, and with Coleman back on the ice, Newsome's Kyle Riegler was penalized for a slash. Twelve seconds later, the Patriots won the game on Shaun Dickinson's second goal of the game.

After controlling an offensive zone draw, Justin Quillen picked up the puck behind the Wolves net. After waiting for Dickinson to make a move to the net, Quillen made a perfect pass, and Dickinson shot a one-timer high into the net past Ryan Zakarian, sending his Patriot teammates flying off the bench in celebration.

"It was a perfect pass," Dickinson said. "I saw it come right onto my stick, I put my stick on it, shot, and it went in."

Dickinson tied the game with 3:27 to play in the third. After crossing across the Wolves zone, Dickinson circled to the right, and found a hole between Zakarian's pad and the goalpost.

"I just snuck it in," Dickinson said. "It was kind of lucky, but a goal's a goal."

But the talk after the game was of Burt's play, as he also drew admiration from the Wolves captain.

"Chris Burt is a great goalie," Newsome captain Zack Vandelagemaat said. "I've played against him the last three years I've been playing here."

Scotty Vargas got Newsome Blue's lone goal.

Vandelagemaat said while his team was disappointed, they were proud to have taken the defending mixed division champions to overtime. The Wolves had fallen in the pure division final last season, that time to Wharton.

"To lose like that is the way we wanted to lose," Vandelagemaat said. "I mean obviously if we had won it would have been a little better, but that was the best way to lose right there. We took a lot of pride in that."

Lakeland Jenkins won the mixed division title with a 4-3 win against the Tigers. Shane Reger scored the game-winner for the Eagles with 8:47 to play in the third period, the first lead the Eagles had taken in the game.

The Tigers opened the scoring just 48 seconds into the game as Erik Kortum's slap shot from the blue line eluded Danny Giovino. Zack Harvard tied the game with a 5-on-3 power-play goal with just more than eight minutes to play in the first. Kyle Kortum restored the Tigers' lead short-handed eight seconds later, however, seizing the puck off the draw and firing a wrist shot into the right corner.

Jason Jensen got the Eagles level again off a nice pass from Keith Wagner from behind the net. The pass found Jensen in front for a low shot past Nick Johnson.

The Tigers retook the lead midway through the second period as Erik Kortum scored his second goal of the game, but the Eagles bounced back quickly to tie the game 1:12 later after a centering pass from Phillip Hutcheson found Brendan Baker in front for a shot into the left corner.

Panthers Eager For Start Of Lacrosse Season

While the West Florida Lacrosse League season has already started, two-time defending league champions Plant opens its season Sunday against FishHawk. The Panthers, who finished as runner-up in the club division at the state championships, are looking to maintain the hold they have had on the WFLL for the past two seasons, and with a strong returning core of players, they would appear to be favorites for a third successive title.

"We've got a lot of returning players," Panthers coach John Shaw said. "We've only lost a couple of guys from last year, and we believe we can play competitive lacrosse again this year. Obviously our goal is to get to the state title game again, but we've got a long way to go."

Absent this season is midfielder Dennis McSweeney, who was a major catalyst for the Panthers, but back are Cameron Von Thron, Ben Ebaugh and Joey Jacob, all of whom played major roles in the Panthers' success.

Also returning is defenseman Nick Albani. Albani was the WFLL defenseman of the year a season ago, and according to Shaw has continued to improve in the offseason.

"He's become a lot more mature in both his individual style and the team's style of defense," Shaw said.

While Albani and goalkeeper Zack Jacob, who were both named to the league's All-Star team last season, will be trying to maintain the Panthers normally stingy defensive record, two other returning All-Stars will be leading the offensive charge. C.J. Casselli and Garrett German, who are both juniors, should combine to lead a potent attack, something that has come from the long-term playing relationship they have shared.

Nicholas J.E. Murray can be reached at (813) 259-8243 or nmurray@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Youth Sports for more news and notes.

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