5A soccer semifinal: PHU gets past East Lake this time

PALM HARBOR — Palm Harbor University junior Shannon Walisch has never headed in a goal during her high school career.

Before every game, Walisch tells forward Catherine Brinkman, the Hurricanes' main set piece taker, that today is the day she breaks through.

It has been a running joke for the two all season. Tuesday against East Lake in a region semifinal, it was Walisch with the last laugh.

With the score deadlocked 1-1 in the second half, Brinkman sent a corner kick toward the far post in the 54th minute. Walisch skied high above the crowd in front of the net to get her head on the ball, sending a powerful shot past East Lake goalkeeper Alicia Aldridge to help propel the Hurricanes to a 2-1 victory over the Eagles.

"I'm usually back marking the other team's best players, so I didn't expect to actually go in for a corner," Walisch said. "When I saw the ball floating there, I knew I had to try my hardest to get it in."

For PHU (19-2), the win avenges a 3-0 loss to East Lake last season in the same round of the playoffs.

The Hurricanes, who won all four meetings with East Lake (16-5) heading into Tuesday's semifinal, got on the board in the third minute when Paige Lombard intercepted a loose ball deep in Eagles territory and calmly touched the ball into goal.

East Lake, however, shrugged off the early deficit and attacked the Hurricanes for much of the first half. Their persistence paid off with 29 minutes before the break when Leah Fisher muscled a ball past PHU's Christina Brewer (three saves) to knot the score at 1.

PHU regrouped at halftime and outshot the Eagles 7-2 after the break. After Walisch made it 2-1, East Lake had a golden opportunity to equalize late in the game when Fisher found Alicia Nalley wide open in front of the net, but Nalley's shot went just over the crossbar.

"She buries those usually," said PHU coach John Planamenta, who coaches Nalley's club team.