Central rolls on road vs. Hazelwood West

The Tigers posted a 3-1 victory for their third straight win.

The start of the 2005 soccer season has been a frustrating one at times for Central forward Lance Altenthal.

The senior has had plenty of scoring chances but had converted just one goal prior to Tuesday's game at Hazelwood West.

Altenthal again had several chances to score in the first half against the Wildcats. He finally broke through in the second half to give the Tigers a comfortable 3-0 lead.

They held on for a 3-1 victory.

"I've been creating chances all season," Altenthal said. "I guess I get a little jittery in front of the goal. I need to be more calm."

Althenthal was calm when he picked up a loose ball after Tyson Whiteside had flicked a corner kick from Justin Lambert about 10 minutes into the second half.

That followed goals by Trenton Beckham and Whiteside that had given Central (3-1) a two-goal halftime advantage on the Wildcats (2-2-1).

"We got that goal in the last minute of the first half which gave us a 2-0 lead," Central coach Tom Doyle said. "That was a big one because anything can happen when the score is 1-0.

"I told the guys we needed to get another goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half and they followed instructions."

Central was in control from the outset. The Tigers capitalized 20 minutes into the game, when Beckham scored on a rebound from a shot by Cody Gaither.

Whiteside scored his sixth goal of the season in the final stages of the opening half after good hustle by Matt Hester.

"That goal in the last couple of minutes was a back-breaker," Hazelwood West coach Jason Sellers said. "Cape Central played well. But that is no surprise. Year after year, they do well in the state tournament. They have a much more experienced team than we do, and it showed out there today. They kicked the ball around well."

Central's defense was stellar throughout, limiting Hazelwood West's scoring opportunities. The Wildcats averted a shutout when Tim Wilson scored on a rebound from a free kick midway through the second half.

"We have a lot of senior leadership on this team," Tigers senior sweeper Sam Bornstein said. "A lot of us have been playing since we were 12 or 13. We can count on each other for being in the right spots. We had the one breakdown on the free kick, but other than that I thought we controlled the game defensively. They didn't challenge us much."

The win was the third in a row for Central after a season-opening 2-1 loss to St. Pius in the Notre Dame Tournament.

"I think that loss to St. Pius might help us in the long run," Bornstein said. "We have a ton of talent on this team but we came out a little too cocky in that first game. We learned our lesson and we should have a good season."

Central's junior varsity was also victorious 4-2 in its season opener. Zach Zaruba scored twice, and Jesse Lawrence and Jonathan Seyer had a goal apiece.