18990: (Hermantin)SunSentinel- Altidore scores big for Heritage-Delray (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Altidore scores big for Heritage-Delray



By Dave Brousseau
Staff Writer

February 22, 2004

Fort Lauderdale · Sadia Altidore stood in the middle of a pack waiting for a
corner kick from Nicole Farrell.

The intended recipient was anyone from American Heritage-Delray that could
get a touch on the ball. Lucky for the Stallions, the 5-foot-10 Altidore was
the tallest of the bunch waiting in front of the goal.

She redirected Farrell's boot with her head, scoring the only goal to giving
Heritage-Delray a 1-0 victory over Orange Park St. Johns Country Day for the
Class 2A State Championship at Lockhart Stadium on Saturday.

It was the first title for the Stallions (24-3-4) girls' soccer program that
had never made it past the district tournament.

"I have no clue why I made the decision to move Sadia up," Stallions coach
Steve Burgess said. "I sent her up for one corner and I kept sending her up.
I felt sometime this year she's got to score a goal.

"It was just on of those things. She was in the right place at the right
time, a very well-taken header."

Altidore, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, was without a goal all season
until Saturday.

"I'm a defender and don't score many goals," Altidore said. "It was awesome
that I was able to score for our team. I don't get too much recognition. At
this time I'm kind of happy.

"I was really surprised because I thought it was really going to hit my
teammate Molly Anderson and luckily it hit me."

Her parents came to the United States when they were 22, and she was 3 when
they moved to South Florida from New Jersey. The junior began playing soccer
after moving from Miami to Boca Raton when she was 6.

Altidore usually plays back on defense and defender Tonya Uber joins the
corner kick formation.

"I jumped up for it and it went to her," Anderson said. "It went over my
head and she finished it. I'm so happy she was there."

The goal wasn't without some questioning by Spartans coach Mike Pickett.

"It was a little questionable because they were shielding my keeper,"
Pickett said. "I asked the referee to watch it. That's what happened on the
goal when [Altidore] made a nice header.

"The referee didn't see it that way. That was unfortunate. That's how the
game goes."

"I don't think it has really sunk in yet," Burgess said. "It's a fairly
young program and I knew we had a chance of doing something special this
year. This is great feeling. The girls did what they needed to do."

"We played against a very good team today. ... I think defensively we were a
bit stronger and then we were able to get the break when we needed it."

St. Johns (21-2-3) had a couple chances at goals. Michelle Lavine had the
best opportunity when her right-footed shot hit the lower left post early in
the first half. Christie Jones' header late in the game went just wide of
the right post.

Dave Brousseau can be reached at dbrousseau@sun-sentinel.com.
Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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