Keswick chalks up lucky 13th
shutout |
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Published November 3, 1983 in the Evening Independent By ANDY LONG Keswick's stingy defense recorded its 13th shutout of the season Tuesday, advancing to the semifinals of the Class A, District 2 soccer tournament with a '3-0 victory over Bayshore Methodist Christian from Tampa. Keswick finished the regular season with a 15-2-1 record and gave up only 11 goals, while scoring 65 of its own. They have been aided in the net by two goalies, junior Dan Harrington and -eighth-grader Wendell Smith. They usually split time in each game, but head coach Steve Short opted to use Smith the entire game Tuesday. "We pulled Smith up as a backup and wanted to get him some experience in the net, but he was so good we couldn't keep him out of there," Short said. "We have two competent goalies and whichever one is in there, I have confidence in his ability." The game started slowly for Keswick, and it took a while to get into gear against the upset-minded Warriors. Bayshore almost took an early lead when it had a shot bounce off the crossbar before Smith could cover it. A minute later, another shot went a foot wide. Then Keswick got into the shooting act when Mike Johnson scored on a goal that caught everyone off guard. He took what looked like a weak pass toward the goal through five defenders, who watched the hall roll to the back of the net. Before the first half ended, Smith made two saves, one on a shot everyone expected to go in. In the second half, Keswick opened up its potent scoring machine and added two goals in a minute's time. Then the Crusaders put in their subs. Their second goal came from their leading scorer, Matt Schmidt, who was playing with a sore shoulder. The goal, his 23rd of the season, eased the pain somewhat, but he left the game soon afterward to be fresh for Thursday's action. "I hurt the shoulder on Sunday in city league play and couldn't even move my arm that night," Schmidt said. "I haven't gone to the doctor yet, and I'm not going to until our season is over. I don't want him to tell me that I can't play." Even though he didn't want to admit it, he did say the soreness made him play a little off his game. When I took my first shot, I could feel it pulling up there. I realized then how much your whole body is used when you play," he said. "I did hesitate a few times when I was close to a defender (and) going for a loose hall. But I think I will be ready to play on Thursday." |
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