Zeus ruled for ’Dogs in two region wins

A pair of game-winning goals last week by Zeus Rodriquez has DeLand in uncharted territory entering tonight’s Class 5A boys soccer region final.

The Bulldogs (15-2-2) travel to Seminole (25-2-3) at 7 p.m. with a trip to a Friday state semifinal on the line. It is the first region final for either program.

Both were without their top players due to a club tournament when they played a 1-1 draw on Nov. 18.

The rematch is a duel of differing styles as DeLand’s possession-based squad looks to slow a Seminole team that’s won 16 in a row while outscoring opponents 63-13.

Also tonight, 2015 state champ Orangewood Christian plays its seventh region final in a span of eight seasons at home vs. Tallahassee Maclay, and Daytona Beach Seabreeze (20-1-2) travels to Land O’ Lakes to take on Sunlake.

“We always take every game one at a time simply because soccer is such a cruel sport,” DeLand coach Chris Dowdell said. “You can be the better team and just be unlucky around the net, so we hope to get a bounce here and a break there and see what happens.”

DeLand avenged a 1-0 loss to Port Orange Spruce Creek in a district final by pulling out a 2-1 region semifinal win in overtime Saturday. Rodriguez capitalized for a goal inside the opening two minutes of the extra period off a feed from Jose “Chelis” Fuentes.

A Rodriguez header in a 1-0 win vs. Jacksonville Mandarin in the quarterfinals gave DeLand its firstever region victory.

Fuentes leads DeLand with 16 goals. Goalkeeper Jaime Lopez has a goalsagainst average of 0.73.

Junior Ashton Neff has 22 goals and 20 assists for Seminole. Sophomore John Matos has 21 goals.