Central bows out with shutout loss

FENTON, Mo. -- The Central boys soccer team had the wind on its side and a Class 3 quarterfinal opponent which hadn't scored a goal in 120 minutes of play in the sectional round as the Tigers headed into Saturday's matchup with Vianney at the Anheuser-Busch Center.

The Golden Griffins, 1-0 winners on penalty kicks in Tuesday's sectional round, struck first with a goal midway through the opening half, and maintained its stingy defense for a 2-0 win.

Vianney (22-5-2) secured its 11th berth in the state final four, and first since 1992. The Tigers (22-6-2) were denied a chance at only their second final four appearance in program history.

"I told them this is the fourth-best season in Tiger soccer as far as wins," Central coach Tom Doyle said. "Record-wise, it's fourth best, as far as we got it was our second-best season. No complaints. Really, my only complaint is I have to replace 15 seniors."

With a steady wind blowing throughout the game, playing well with the wind was a key for both teams. Central came out with the early pressure, keeping Vianney on its heels despite no real dangerous shots on goal to speak of.

"We knew they were going to come out really hard, and if we could contain them the first 15 minutes, we'd be OK," Vianney coach Dave Gauvain said. "They did throw everything at us. I thought in the first half we backed off too much and gave them space, but in the second half we did a better job of that."

As the half moved along, Vianney started to steady itself. Central seemed content to use the wind to play long balls, getting away from its typical possession-style game.

"With the wind, we needed to get a goal that first half," Doyle said. "Wind is such a big thing in this game. I thought when we had the wind, we spent too much time sending it long and chasing."

The wind seemed to play a part on the first goal. Vianney's initial shot came from a little bit outside the goal box. The shot was deflected, but the wind seemed to hold it up and it ended up falling at the feet of Mike Riordan inside the box. Riordan beat Central goalie Jordan Young to put the Golden Griffins up 1-0.

"We talked about it all week, we wanted to snap out of a little slump and get a couple of goals," Gauvain said. "That [first goal] was nice. To get it against the wind made it even nicer."

It wasn't until the final 10 minutes of the half when Central rebounded and began to put several good chances together. Sam Bornstein struck a low shot which Vianney goalie Mark Magee made a diving save on.

Tyson Whiteside followed with a dangerous header off a cross, but Magee was there again. In the final 2 minutes of the half, Magee made a diving, fingertip save to keep the Tigers off the board.

"I thought he probably made three or four outstanding saves that normally would have been goals," Doyle said.

In the second half, Central seemed to have the better of the play early on. The Tigers appeared to have the equalizer on a corner kick early in the half, but a foul call for contact on the keeper negated what would have been a Central goal.

"I thought we had a goal there," Doyle said. "The referee said he jumped into the goalie and turned his back."

Central continued to pressure Vianney and had another near goal snatched away at the last moment. After a scramble in front of the net on a corner kick, Lance Altenthal hit a volley headed for the back of the net. A Vianney defender was stationed at the post and managed to clear the ball off the line.

"That helped, too," Gauvain said. "That changes the whole complexion of the game if it goes in."

Altenthal had another chance about a minute later but could not get a good shot off on a cross. As the Tigers sent more and more players up the field to try and get the equalizer, Vianney started to have more space on offense.

Vianney put the game away on a counter-attack about midway through the second half. Kevin Valenta, who assisted on the first goal, found a wide open Sean Lewis inside the goal box for an easy tally and a 2-0 lead.

"We got the ball in the corner, and Kevin did a good job of cutting it back and finding Sean," Gauvain said.

The Tigers continued to push players up down the stretch, but Vianney's defense did not crack.

Doyle said the Tigers' failure to come back in the second half was not due to a lack of effort.

"I thought overall we had more chances than they did the second half," he said.