Jackson downs Central in sudden-death shootout

JACKSON — Dillon Huber's shot slammed into Justin Darnell's stomach as he went down to make the stop.

It was fitting that Darnell made a save to win the game Tuesday.

Darnell stopped Central's final penalty kick to give Jackson the 1-0 victory in the second round of sudden-death penalty kicks.

"Darnell and our defense continued to battle all night for us and kept it scoreless," Jackson coach Zack Walton said. "It was only fitting for it to come down to Darnell and for him to make that save for us to get that win."

Darnell, Jackson's senior goalie, said he didn't try to guess which way Huber might shoot.

"I'm just watching for the basics," he said. "I'm watching the hips, watching which way he's going to go with it. Nothing else goes through my mind. I zone everything out and watch him kick it."

Huber didn't try to bury it on either side of Darnell, instead deciding to blast the ball toward the middle of the goal. Darnell said that's one of the toughest saves to make in a shootout.

"It's kind of like a last-second decision," he said. "You think they're going to go to the side. When they hit it straight down the middle, you got to recover fast because you're going to lean one way trying to dive to the side. It's pretty difficult to save those ones in the middle."

It took a second for it to sink in that the Indians had defeated their rivals.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "You can't believe it just happened. Then it sets in and you have the whole team running at you."

After the initial five penalty kicks, Jackson's Joseph Shultz and Central's Josh Hiett both converted in the first round of sudden death.

Jackson senior Tyler Trierweiler stepped up to try to give his team the lead. He chose to aim down the middle and high, and he was able to beat Central goalie Carlos Salas.

"When I walked up, I decided to kick it as hard as I can," Trierweiler said. "I usually go right."

That set up Darnell's opportunity to seal the win, and he delivered.

Central coach Dan Martin said he couldn't have asked for more from Salas, who made a pair of impressive saves in the first five attempts.

"He's that type that loves PKs," Martin said. "That's one of the things we talked about in the huddle. We knew Carlos was going to do his part, the shooters need to do their part, and they did. It was pretty well overall."

Central (8-3) controlled the play for the first half, but Darnell kept coming up big in goal. He came off the line numerous times during regulation to thwart Central chances.

"I want to get hit, but that's not the first thing going through my mind," Darnell said. "I block everything out. If I get hit, I just go with it. I love it. I love that adrenaline rush."

The play was even during the second half, but Central again controlled the play in both 10-minute overtime sessions. The Tigers' best chance to end it in overtime came with under 7 minutes left in the second overtime when Jesse Lawrence blasted a shot that rang off the post.

"I thought it was going to be wider than it was," Darnell said. "I thought I had the goal covered more than I did. At least it hit the post."

Martin told his team to keep putting pressure on the Indians' defense in the overtime sessions, but Jackson was able to turn away the threats.

"We had really good movement in the back and the mids, we were just kind of breaking down," Martin said. "We couldn't get that last chance off."