Thunder boys claim district first crown

ST. PETERSBURG — Kevin Harvey said he has mastered kicking a soccer ball with a defender draped on him. Well, the Out-of-Door Academy senior forward displayed the skill Friday against archrival Saint Stephen’s. And no goal he has scored this season has been more exciting.

With the game knotted 1-1 and 10 minutes remaining, Harvey stole the ball from a Falcons’ player deep in Saint Stephen’s territory, weaved through two defenders on the left side of the field and fired the kick from just outside the penalty box. The ball sailed into the upper right corner of the net.

The Thunder held off Saint Stephen’s for a 2-1 victory in the Class 2A-District 10 championship game at St. Pete Shorecrest Prep’s Haskell Stadium, giving ODA its first district soccer title in school history.

“I just wanted the (win),” Harvey said. “I was able to see the defender who had the ball was a little iffy with the ball, so I just tried to capitalize on his mistake, and I was able to steal it. Then I tried to take the defender with as much pace as I could. I was able to get a nice shot off. I’ve been playing varsity soccer for five years, and this is the first season that we’ve been able to beat Saint Stephen’s. This is a really exciting.”

With the win, ODA will host Indians Rocks Christian, the runner-up of District 9, on Thursday, and Saint Stephen’s will travel to play Tampa Prep, the champion of District 9.

The game was a defensive struggle.

The Falcons (10-7-1), the three-year reigning district champions, managed only five shots on goal, while the Thunder had four. However, the game started with quick scoring.

In the 11th minute, Saint Stephen’s Matthew Unzicker penalty kick, as a result of the handball penalty in the box by ODA, found the back of the net, arming the Falcons with a brief 1-0 lead. Two minutes later, Thunder forward Jake Siciliano’s header in the box tied the score at 1-1, and the score stayed that way until Harvey’s heroics.

“We had to get that goal back,” ODA coach David Hawkes said. “The longer it goes on it’s harder to score. They’ll block it and defend and defend and defend.”

The Falcons have a young team, suiting up only three seniors, and Saint Stephen’s coach Marc Jones said his team’s youth showed up Friday.

“We made some young, rookie mistakes maybe dribbling too much in our defensive third,” Jones said. “I couldn’t be more proud of my guys. I thought we battled, and I thought we hustled. It was those young mistakes that cost us.”

After being beaten by the Falcons on a routine basis over the past five seasons, including a 2-1 loss to Saint Stephen’s in last year’s district title game, ODA (12-1-3) was finally able to overcome its toughest obstacle.

“(Saint Stephen’s) is the team I definitely wanted to beat most,” said Harvey, who has scored 19 goals this season. “A lot of my friends are on that team from club soccer. This was a big deal.”