TAMPA — East Bay junior forward Brittany Cox admitted the Indians' Class 6A region semifinal game Tuesday came as a shock.

The fact that the Indians earned their first trip to the region finals since 2001 with a 6-2 win over Alonso was already a surprise for East Bay, let alone the commanding way the Indians took over a tie game in the second half.

"I just don't think it has hit us yet," said Cox, who scored three goals and had two assists, all in the second half. "Maybe it will kick in tomorrow during the morning messages at school."

East Bay scored three unanswered goals in the first 11 minutes of the second half to break open a 1-1 game. Cox scored the first two goals just six minutes apart.

"We had a heart to heart at the half," East Bay coach Claudine Sosa said. "We just weren't playing our game in the first half. We told them they've have to play to their potential and leave it all on the field."

The win earned the Indians (13-3-2) a trip to Melbourne on Friday.

East Bay scored first in the final two minutes of the first half when Lindsey Rankin lofted a direct kick over the goalkeeper's head. But Alonso scored just 15 seconds later on a goal by senior Tifani Mullen, who scored the Ravens' only two goals.

But just four minutes into the half, Cox — East Bay's leading scorer with 26 goals — took a pass from Delaney Poli along the right side, broke away from her defender and scored. Less than six minutes later Cox scored again. The Ravens (16-6) could never rebound from there.

Poli added two goals and three assists for the Indians.

"We lost the momentum and we started making mental errors," Alonso coach Scott Cunningham said. "This wasn't the way I saw our season coming to an end."