St. Vincent girls soccer team scores goal in final minute, defeats Central 2-1

For 79 minutes, the Central girls soccer team stood toe-to-toe with St. Vincent, a perennial power from Perryville, during Monday's season opener at Central High School.

Then St. Vincent freshman Faith Kapp and senior Holly Blandford executed a perfect give-and-go, Kapp taking a return pass from Blandford and powering a shot past Central goalkeeper Katie Kinder with 55 seconds remaining for a 2-1 victory before a handful of frigid fans at Tiger Stadium.

Considering the Indians (1-0) whipped the Tigers 4-0 last season, the effort put forth by Central had Tigers coach Dan Martin smiling afterward.

"St. Vincent's always been good," Martin said. "They're well coached, they're a strong opponent. ... I thought it was a strong battle between both teams."

St. Vincent coach Keith Volansky was happy to escape with a win.

"It's kind of cold to go into overtime today," Volanksy said. "I'm glad we got it finished up."

The winning goal was a reward for the Indians, who spent the second half, with a stiff north wind at their backs, aggressively attacking Central's defense. Kapp corralled a loose ball near midfield, passed to Blandford on the sideline, then streaked upfield. Blandford's perfect return pass hit Kapp in stride, and the freshman forward dribbled in on goal, firing a shot from about 18 yards out that glanced off Kinder's outstretched hands and into the upper right corner of the net.

"I was just hoping it would go in," Kapp said about her game-winner. "We were just working hard and doing the best we can."

"I heard [Kapp] call for it and I felt her move," Blandford said. "Just get it to her."

Central (0-1) jumped on the Indians with an opportunistic start. St. Vincent played the opening ball back to its defense, but the Indians failed to control the ball. Central gained possession and quickly got the ball to junior forward Abby Shupert, who dribbled in and blasted a shot into the upper-right corner of the net to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead just 10 seconds into the contest.

"I saw an opening, and my teammates passed me the ball," Shupert said. "It was perfect, so I just took it all the way."

It stayed that way until St. Vincent's Brooke Monier curled a long shot from out front that beat Kinder to the upper-left corner with 3:45 left in the first half to knot the score at 1-1.

Shupert had a great chance to put the Tigers back on top, shooting through the St. Vincent defense on a breakaway at the 12:40 mark of the second half. Indians senior goalkeeper Katie Mattingly raced out toward Shupert, cutting down the angle, and smothered Shupert's shot near the top of the box.

Meanwhile, the Indians, with the wind at their backs in the second half, attacked the goal relentlessly, but Central's defense proved equal to the task, at least until the final minute.

"St. Vincent in the second half applied a lot of pressure," Martin said. "But I like our backs not giving up as many shots. They blocked a lot of shots -- that's something we're working on -- and they're trying to give [up] no shots. And they're doing a good job at it."

Kinder recorded nine saves and had to make several split-second decisions on when to stay back and when to move forward. Twice she dived onto balls rolling toward the goal with a St. Vincent player bearing down on her.

"I thought for her first start of the year, she did a great job," Martin said. "The goals that were scored tonight were good goals -- on both sides."

Central senior Emily Daly, who was solid in the midfield throughout the game, liked what she saw in her team.

"I think we've really improved since last year, considering we lost 4-0 to them last year," she said. "There's a lot going for us this season. This game will motivate us for the rest of the season."

Mattingly totalled nine saves in goal for the Indians.