By TAYLOR TUBBS
News-Sun correspondent
SEBRING - The odds were not in favor on the soccer Streaks on Thursday at Fireman's Field as they took on the toughest team in their district, Auburndale.
The Bloodhounds edged the Streaks in a 4-1 victory, and some technical problems with the lights in the second half of the game may have given Auburndale an edge.
Auburndale started the game off aggressively with a number of shots on goal, which were saved by keeper Branden Bowyer.
One of these shots, however, was able to slip through at the 33-minute mark, giving Auburndale its' first goal of the night.
Sebring had a number of offensive attempts that would fall short of connecting with the net in the first half.
Filemon Chavez took a shot from a penalty kick 11 minutes into the game, Riley Watson had a shot attempt, and Brian Dixon had a few exciting breakaway runs for the goal.
The Sebring defense was able to hold strong with a number of saves by Ethan Smith, who was substituted in 15 minutes into the game, and the score remained 1-0 going into the halftime break.
Auburndale once again came out aggressively and took several slugs at the goal, but the Sebring defense, consisting of Nick Perez, Junior Chavez and NeilWilson, stopped all the attempts.
At the 33-minute mark, once again, the field filled with energy as Watson scored on a penalty kick to tie up the score 1-1.
Much to Sebring's dismay, though, the Hounds retaliated less than two minutes later with another goal to put them in the lead again.
As the game play continued, an unexpected variable was thrown into the mix - at 25:15, half of the lights on the field suddenly clicked off.
With the time paused, less than a minute later the field was in complete darkness.
It took nearly 15 minutes the remedy the problem and get the lights working again, and the lull in the play may have thrown the Streaks off of their game.
When the match resumed, Auburndale scored at the 22-minute mark off of a penalty kick to give them a two-goal lead.
"We had a hard time coming back after the light incident," said head coach Keith Bowyer. "But I still think we played a strong game."
Chavez took a shot with 16 minutes remaining that had the Bloodhound keeper beat, but caromed off the frame of the goal.
Sebring had soaring clears by the defense and leaping saves by Smith, but Auburndale was able to sneak in another goal off of a free kick with eight minutes remaining in the game to finish the scoring for the night at 4-1.
Both teams played an aggressive game, as the referees issued a number of yellow cards throughout the night.
This was Sebring's second time taking on Auburndale, and last time they lost an away match, 3-0.
"I felt like we had a stronger showing this time we played them. They just need to watch out for districts," said Bowyer.
So, since they have another opportunity to take on the Hounds later in the season, the Streaks have a chance to shine again, even on the darkest of fields.
Sunday, December 09, 2012 - www.newssun.com/SUN-12-9-12-SebBSoccer