Been there, won that

For all of the experience the Central soccer team possesses this season -- the Tigers have 15 seniors on their roster -- just a handful of the current Tigers actually got to suit up for the team's state final four run in 2003.

The Tigers team in 2003 that won the first two state playoff victories in the program's history had 14 seniors. Central finished fourth that year with a 26-2 record.

Two seasons later the Tigers are back at the Anheuser-Busch Center to take on Vianney (21-5-2) at 7 p.m. tonight in a Class 3 state quarterfinal. The game will be played on the same field as Central's 4-3, triple overtime victory over Marquette in the 2003 quarterfinals.

Central senior midfielder Sam Bornstein, who was on the varsity roster in 2003, said this year's squad is not surprised by its run at another state final four berth.

"We started off with a loss, then 12 wins straight, and we thought, 'yeah, we can make it to the final four,'" said Bornstein.

With a 4-1 win over Rockwood Summit in the sectional round the Tigers put themselves one win away from making the program's second state final four. Central (22-5-1) made an emphatic statement with Tuesday's win after dropping a 5-0 decision to the Falcons in the final game of the regular season.

"Knowing we can turn around and beat a team 4-1 that beat us 5-0 in the season gives us a lot of confidence," senior Lance Altenthal said.

Other than the obvious similarity concerning the number of seniors on both the 2003 squad and this year's Central team, there are some other connections between the two teams.

"All those guys, they played together since they were really young, and it's the same thing with us," said Altenthal, who also was on the varsity roster in 2003. "We all played on the same traveling teams since we were real young.

"Everyone on that team was real close; they all hung out together. This team's just like that too."

What the Tigers do not have this time around is a dominant goal scorer like Heath Orr was two years ago. Orr, who finished with a school-record 35 goals in the 2003 season, scored the game-winning goal in both the sectional and quarterfinal rounds.

Tyson Whiteside leads the Tigers this season with 24 goals, followed by Altenthal with 16.

Another major difference revolves around the records of the two teams. While this year's Central squad has once again topped 20 wins, it does not have the pressure of trying to maintain a perfect record like the 2003 team did as it entered the quarterfinal game at 25-0.

"I think skill-wise we're OK, and we played a tougher schedule this year," Central coach Tom Doyle said. "There was probably a little more pressure on the other team being undefeated."

This year's quarterfinal opponent, Vianney, is searching for its first final four appearance since 1992. The Golden Griffins were one of the state soccer powers in the 1970s and 1980s, winning seven state titles.

"I wouldn't say they're down, but they're not the elite team they were 10 years ago," Doyle said of Vianney.

Vianney needed penalty kicks to defeat Hazelwood Central in the sectional round after going through four overtimes without scoring a goal. The Golden Griffins have a balanced scoring attack, with Joe Ehrard leading the team with nine goals.

"I'm afraid of two things," Doyle said. "One, they won't take us lightly. Secondly, they had to play such a tight game [on Tuesday], I know they'll come out fired up from the get-go."

Central has proved throughout the season it can play with some of the best teams in the state -- the Tigers are ranked No. 7 in Class 3 in the Missouri Soccer Coaches Association state poll -- and tonight's game will give this year's squad the chance to prove it is worthy of comparisons to the 2003 team.

"Just one more game, one more team and we're back to the final four," Bornstein said.