Crusaders fend off Tigers in boys soccer action

The Saxony Lutheran Crusaders edged ahead in the first half.

They barely held on in the second half.

The Crusaders knocked off Central 2-1 behind two first-half goals Tuesday night at Saxony.

The Tigers (4-12) started the game by applying pressure on Saxony.

In the first five minutes, Tigers midfielder Dillon Huber served a corner that went across the goal mouth but Central failed to convert the opportunity.

Central's Dillon Huber, left, watches as Saxony Lutheran's Mark Buerck, center, plays a header during Tuesday's game at Saxony Lutheran High School. (LAURA SIMON)

"Cape Central came out fired up," Crusaders coach Ryan Schweain said. "They put a lot of pressure on us."

With the Tigers controlling most of the play, Saxony found a way to get on the scoreboard first in the 16th minute.

After a long throw-in by the Crusaders and a poor clear by the Tigers, Saxony forward Mark Buerck hit a bullet from outside the 20-yard box into the upper left netting for a 1-0 lead.

"In the first half, I thought we had really good pressure," Central coach Dan Martin said. "They had a deep throw and a phenomenal finish. After that, we kind of dropped our heads and lost momentum."

Central didn't take long to answer.

Central's Spencer Lovig, center, puts his hand in the face of Saxony Lutheran's Mathew Wills, right, as he tries to beat Wills and Logan Sprandel to the ball.

The Tigers narrowly missed a goal when a head ball was saved in the 20th minute. In the 29th minute, they pulled even.

Senior Josh Compas beat his defender around the penalty mark and buried a shot in the low left corner to tie the game.

But the Crusaders (13-2) responded in a matter of seconds.

Saxony midfielder Brent Rodewald beat his man on the left side and placed a shot past diving goalkeeper Jamie Pickel to take a 2-1 advantage less than a minute later.

"That was huge," Schweain said. "There for 30 seconds they had a lot of momentum, but that goal completely changed the game."

In the second half, the Crusaders' defense held strong.

Central dominated play, earning the majority of the shots in the final half to try to even the score.

"Our communication stopped," Schweain said. "They just went quiet. We had balls coming to our guys and nobody talking to them. They kind of panicked and just started to get it out."

Yet the Crusaders' defense was effective in clearing the ball. Senior Trevor Mabuce refused to allow anything over the top.

"They played another tough game," Schweain said. "Our defense has kept all of our scores low.

"Trevor is a good player. He's confident. He is a hard guy to beat. He has great communication and the other three backs listen to him well. He's a big player for our defense."

"They cleared the ball very well," Martin added. "We always had to start over and that is tough to keep doing. They were very good defensively clearing the ball."

The Tigers had one final chance on a set play in the final minute, but the ball went through the box untouched.

"This is our season summed up," Martin said. "We realized we were down and finally starting playing. That's part of our inexperience."