CAPE CENTRAL SALVAGES TIE, BUT JACKSON NETS TOP SEED IN DISTRICT

When is a tie really a win?

When it secures a No. 1 seed in a district tournament.

Though Cape Central's Chris Cole provided a crowd-pleasing, game-tying shot with less than a minute left in the game, Jackson still got what it needed in a 2-2 tie in a rare prime-time, under-the-lights event at Southeast Missouri State's soccer field Thursday night.

With Poplar Bluff, Jackson and Cape Central about as even as three teams could get, the district seedings in the five-team, Class 4A, District 1 Tournament, came down to Thursday night's matchup.

Jackson had beaten Poplar Bluff twice. Poplar Bluff had beaten Cape Central twice. And with a 1-0 non-tournament win over Jackson in the season opener already under their belt, the Tigers needed a win to create a three-way deadlock at the top.

But Jackson, which defeated Central 2-1 in an overtime game in the Notre Dame Tournament took the indecision out of the seeding.

"I know we were really disappointed with the tie," Jackson coach Bonnie Knowlan said. "But we accomplished what we needed to and I tried to remind the kids of that. But we played well enough to win and of course we would've liked to win.

"But you have to give credit to Cape. They really did a good job at attacking at the end."

Under the Missouri State High School Activities Association guidelines, regular-season games have no overtimes.

In a back-and-forth game the whole way, Jackson got on top at about the 20-minute mark of the first half when, after a scramble on a corner kick from Noah Reese, Patrick Kohm's shot deflected off teammate Raju Dirnberger for the goal.

Just a few minutes later, Kohm, on a breakaway, scored on an unusual play. Off of a high bounce, Kohm headed a blooper over the head of the goalkeeper and into the net.

At about the 35-minute mark of the first half, Cape Central's Brett McNabb nailed the upper-right corner of the net on a free kick.

The score remained 2-1 until Cole's dramatic 25-yard bullet at the very end.

"That's why you play the game," Central coach Tom Doyle said, referring to Cole's goal. "You never know what's going to happen. You work and work and work then something finally good happens."

Both teams had plenty of scoring opportunities.

During the first half, the ball changed territories seemingly every minute. In the second half, the ball spent equal time on both sides, but it took longer for each team to clear.

With the loss, Central will probably drop to the No. 3 seed in the tournament. But the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds will have to play each other in the first round, so it really makes no difference.