Indians close in on state

IMMOKALEE — Locals call this place "The Emerald of Southwest Florida."

Well, there is a diamond in the rough here, and Immokalee's boys soccer team sparkled yet again Tuesday night, kicking past Bartow, 4-0, in front of several hundred oft-excited fans in a Class 4A-Region 3 semifinal.

Immokalee outclassed District 9 runner-up Bartow, but failed to take full advantage for much of this one-sided affair, keeping the Yellow Jackets within striking distance until Moise Saintil took a pass from Carlos Barraza and buried the ball in the left corner of the net with 18 minutes left to play for a 2-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, an assist from Saintil to Fredo Selbonne made it 3-0. Clotaire Joseph capped the scoring with around seven minutes to go.

"It was a game we couldn't finish," said Immokalee assistant Manny Touron. "They packed it back and kept clogging the defense. We told our guys in the second half, 'You've got to go to the area and take a shot. You can't continue to try to dribble by five guys.'

"Saintil decided, 'To heck with all this, I am going through and I am going to make things happen.' "

The District 12 champion Indians, who beat Estero, 4-0, in the quarterfinals, travel to District 9 champ Tampa Jesuit on Friday night for a regional final matchup that starts at 7.

Immokalee has never played powerful Jesuit (23-4-1), but Bartow coach Michael Brennan's team competes against it in district play.

"He said they play the same style ball that we do," Touron said. "They're a tough team. They're all club players.

"It's going to be a tough game Friday night."

Immokalee (25-1) generated 27 shots on goal, compared to just three by Bartow (12-10-2).

Barraza opened the scoring with a one-on-one move, using quicker feet to loop around the right side of tall, lanky Drew Messieh, then zipping the ball into the left corner, well past a lunging Mike Lekie just 7½ minutes into the game.

Although Immokalee held just a 1-0 lead, the first half was played almost exclusively on Bartow's side of the field as the Indians attacked throughout, getting 13 shots on goal, several of which would've been scores if not for dandy saves by Lekie that actually drew applause from Indians fans.

"We knew with all the pressure we had, the goals were going to come," said a grinning Touron. "It's nice to go into the finals with this kind of score."

The only action Immokalee goalkeeper Ricardo Robles had in the first half was scooping up two tricklers. That's one more than he fielded in the second half.