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Girls soccer: Osceola 1, St. Petersburg 0

 
Published Jan. 7, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG — Osceola coach Anatol Popovich figured his team had three legitimate scoring chances in Tuesday night's match against St. Petersburg. The Warriors capitalized on one of those, which is all they needed in a 1-0 win over the Green Devils.

Osceola (9-1-2) clinched the PCAC south championship with the win. It will likely play at East Lake on Friday night for the PCAC championship. The Eagles still have to play Tarpon Springs on Thursday in a PCAC north game.

For much of Tuesday's match, the action took place between the 18-yard boxes. The game was scoreless at halftime and remained that way halfway through the second half. St. Petersburg had a prime scoring chance with 20 minutes left when Angela Scamardella broke free in the box and hit the left post from within 5 yards.

Osceola shored up its defense and got the breakaway it needed four minutes later. Rebecca Dirks played a give-and-go to Cassidy Reich just past midfield. Dirks ran to open space and got the pass inside the 18-yard box.

After a few dribbles, she chipped a shot over St. Petersburg keeper Kaylan Marckese for the game's only goal.

"I was screaming for the ball,'' Dirks said. "I saw a lot of space and I was wide open. I was able to chip it over the keeper.''

Osceola actually had another chance to score with two minutes remaining when Alison Watkins found space 10 yards in front of the net. But Marckese made a diving save to take the ball off Watkins' feet.

St. Petersburg (9-2-2) was unable to get any real scoring chance after the Osceola goal. The Green Devils finish the regular season tonight against Boca Ciega and begin district play next Wednesday.

Osceola now has an extra game to play this week, but being in the PCAC final wasn't a big talking point for the Warriors prior to Tuesday's match.

"We didn't really talk much about the PCAC championship,'' Popovich said. "We were just worried about playing our game and beating a very good St. Petersburg team. We had three chances, we made one. I'll take that."