GIRLS SOCCER: PHU earns strong win over East Lake

After a number of near misses failed to find the back of the net Thursday night, Palm Harbor University's persistence paid off and the Hurricanes beat rival East Lake, 3-1.

"It was a little sloppy at the beginning," PHU head coach John Planamenta said. "Once we started cleaning some things up a little bit I think we played more under control and put some more pressure on them."

Despite controlling the game's tempo throughout most of the night, PHU fell behind 1-0 midway through the first half when a hand ball in its own goal box created a penalty kick that East Lake sophomore Megan Kelly converted.

PHU evened things up in the 38th minute when sophomore Kelly Phipps received an entry pass and lofted a shot from the 18 over East Lake goalkeeper Chloe Keesecker.

Winning control at midfield throughout the game allowed Phipps and other Hurricanes forwards to apply plenty of pressure on the East Lake defense. PHU outshot the Eagles 9-4 in the second half and 13-4 overall.

The Hurricanes went ahead in the 70th minute when Phipps and fellow sophomore Skye Barba got behind the Eagles' back row. Keesecker saved Phipps' shot from the left side, but Barba was in position to slam home the rebound and put PHU on top 2-1.

Hurricanes freshman midfielder Alexis Mouton capped the scoring in extra time by sneaking a shot through the legs of Keesecker as the East Lake keeper was trying to rush out and win possession.

PHU improved to 2-1 on the young season and Phipps said the team is still working toward building on-field chemistry after losing 11 players from last year's Class 6A state champions.

"I think we're still adjusting; it's a whole new group of girls. Last year we had all seniors and the chemistry was just perfect. We're still rebuilding but I think we have a good team."