Wegerle's domination leads Bush to 100th win at Bulls' expense

ERIK ERLENDSSON of The Tampa Tribune
Originally Published: Dec 9, 2000

VALRICO - In one night, Gaither boys soccer coach Adrian Bush accomplished two goals he set for himself.

The Cowboys' 2-0 win against Class 4A-District 7 rival Bloomingdale (5-1, 3-1) was Bush's first at Charley Harris Field in his six years of coaching, and was also his 100th career victory.

``This is very special to me and I have been blessed to have had great players come through this program and every one of them had something to do with this tonight,'' said Bush, who is now 100-23-7. ``And it was very special to be able to accomplish it at this place. My first-ever game as a coach came right here and I remember I was a very nervous 22-year old.''

Senior Bryce Wegerle helped calm Bush's nerves in the second half with a pair of goals.

Wegerle, who will be named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-American team on Monday, sneaked in behind the defense to head in Justin Elliott's 50-yard free kick in the 53rd minute and dribbled past two defenders in the 65th minute.

Bloomingdale freshman goalkeeper Chris Sedlak kept the Bulls in the game with a pair of point- blank shots from Wegerle and Steve Sullivan in the 58th minute and finished with six saves.

An even-played, scoreless first half saw Gaither (7-1, 5-0) rattle a pair of shots off the post. But in the second half, the Cowboys controlled most of the play and had the better scoring chances, out- shooting Bloomingdale 8-3 in the final 40 minutes.

``Obviously we have a lot of work to do. They flat out-hustled us tonight,'' Bloomingdale coach Dave Tennian said.

Wegerle, the son of former soccer star Steve Wegerle, transferred from Jesuit during the summer. He was invited to participate in the Under-18 national training camp in August and is a candidate for the U-18 national team.

The All-American award ``is a tremendous honor, it is really overwhelming,'' said Wegerle, who was told of the honor Wednesday. ``I am very appreciative of this, but without my teammates none of these kind of things are possible and I have some great teammates.''