The second straight trip to the district finals last week turned out no better than the first time around for Timber Creek’s boys soccer team. On Friday night at Freedom High School the Wolves were forced into double overtime before a Winter Park cross from the right side to the far post bounced into the corner of the net off a header at the 6:29 mark, sending TCHS packing with a 2-1 setback.
As Winter Park players piled onto their teammates in jubilation, the Wolves slowly made their way to the sideline in disbelief. It was a shocking conclusion for the No. 1 seed as they previously defeated Winter Park, 1-0, in November thanks to nine saves by Leslie Chehab and a goal from Juan Cano.
“We played our hearts out but we just didn’t get the result,” said head coach Steve Schroter. The focus this week for a Timber Creek squad entering regionals with a 21-3-3 mark was to put the District 4 loss behind them as they go on the road tonight to take on Winter Springs at 7 p.m. To get there the Wolves breezed past both Oak Ridge and Cypress Creek by a combined 8-0 tally, giving even more confidence to a team entering the finals after rolling through much of the season.
Following a long goal that was punched in by TCHS junior AJ Lovelace on a throw-in with under 31 minutes to go in the second half, it looked as though Timber Creek may record yet another shutout. But it wasn’t enough to secure the trophy for the upstart Wolves. When TCHS did allow a goal to Winter Park, on a penalty kick that tied the game at 1-1 with 28:02 remaining, it was the first time an opponent had scored on them since competing at the Palm Beach Invitational during the first week of January.
Both goalkeepers made terrific saves throughout the game even as missed opportunities came and went for both sides. Headers by Winter Park sailed over the crossbar. Shots by Timber Creek veered wide of intended marks. In the first half senior Greg Planeta had two shots sail wide right before the teams went in at the half in a scoreless tie.
Following the goals scored in the second half by each team, Winter Park nearly ended the game early in the first overtime period but a header couldn’t find the net. Timber Creek was unable to create anything on offense despite two freekick attempts. In the second overtime a header by Timber Creek’s Caleb Cooper just missed the goal nearly a minute into the stanza.
The Wolves would not get another noteworthy chance from that point on before Winter Park ended their night. “I think the win we had against them during the regular season kind of hurt us because we came out thinking we had a chance to beat them,” said Planeta following the loss.
“And we did. But we just weren’t at the top of our game,” And the Wolves had little time to sulk as they prepared to do something that has yet to be done — win a game in the postseason. But according to Chehab, it’s pride that will likely help keep them focused on that goal tonight. “This team has been together for a while.
We have a lot of trust in each other and when we go into a game we always think that we’re going to come out No. 1,” he said. “We’ll figure out what we did wrong and fix it. We’re good at rebounding and getting back on our feet.”
