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At a glance, Estero boys soccer coach John Robinson and his players appear to have a clear path to repeat as 4A District 11 champions, but he isn't ordering the 2008 patch for the district champion banner in the school's gym just yet.

Estero will face the winner of today's Gateway Charter and LaBelle game on Friday in the semifinals, but even though the Wildcats' single district loss this season came in a forfeit to Lemon Bay due to officials not showing up to call the game, Robinson isn't concerned with district records.

He does have an idea of who his team will probably be sharing the field with at Riverdale when its time comes, though.

"LaBelle has been playing a lot better and they are definitely someone to be feared," he said. Estero beat the Cowboys, 3-2, on Dec. 4. "If you lose, you're out, so we're looking out for them."

The Wildcats by and large have a young team, but Robinson is going to need his upperclassmen to be difference-makers and keep his team in the thick of things. Although Ryan Wheeler is leading the team in goals this season with 23, it has been the play of seniors Matt Rhoades and Alfredo Lerma that has served as a consistent threat all season.

Rhoades has scored 13 goals and passed for 11 assists, while Lerma has scored 11 goals of his own and dished out 15 assists as well.

The two biggest concerns Estero has going into districts has to be the fact the team has allowed 10 goals in its last three games, and has shown a propensity for drawing costly yellow cards. Although younger players like Spencer Preston offer plenty of versatility, maturity has taken some time to develop in the form of not mouthing off to referees.

"I think if they can use their heads they'll keep themselves qualified, but when they start running their mouths to the refs that's when we get into trouble," Robinson said. "I don't think that we have had a set lineup all season, so everyone helps out in different ways; it's a small team and everyone is doing well and everyone contributing."

Estero has the benefit of a quarterfinals bye, but teams in the 4A-12 district are thrown right into the fire, as there are only four teams within it. Golden Gate is the favorite to come out on top, mainly because it has lost just three games all season – only one of which coming to a district opponent in Naples.

The Titans will play in an opening semifinal round against Palmetto Ridge, but may do so without senior captain Damian Coliqueo, who has been missing in action for some time now from the Golden Gate lineup. Coliqueo has been red-carded twice this season, but his bookings are under review by the state with questions as to how legitimate his penalties are.

His first red card suspension was shortened after the state thought it to be too severe, but if his most recent red is judged to be correct, he'll likely miss the rest of the season.

Head coach Dwight Morgan doesn't expect his team to miss a beat with or without him in the lineup.

"Defensively we want to keep teams off the scoreboard," he said. "When you get to districts, the teams that can keep clean sheets are the teams that advance the furthest. The games are always tight, but once you get on a roll after that first goal goes in, it kind of relaxes everyone."

On the other side of the 4A-12 bracket, Naples faces Lely. The Trojans won the first encounter between the two, 4-0, but Naples picked up a win in the second meeting 3-1. Although the Eagles have struggled to play their trademark strong defense since the break, head coach Bryan Kelley saw some things out of his team in Friday's 2-1 loss at Charlotte that has him optimistic his team can turn in a tidier performance this time around against Lely.

"I think they were tired of playing poorly and they came out sharp as a knife, and hopefully for our sake we'll be ready to go," he said of his teams' performance against the Tarpons. "I think Lely has a little more speed then us so it's important for us to play as well as we did on Friday."

Barron Collier, meanwhile, has a much taller task ahead. The Cougars open district play against at East Lee County against Fort Myers Tuesday night. Barron ( 14-3-4) is second in the district standings and Fort Myers is fourth with a record of 14-7-4.

Making matters worse for Barron, if the Cougars win, they'll likely play number one Cape Coral in the semifinals.