TIGERS CAPTURE DISTRICT CROWN IN OT THRILLER

Matt Kennard was the man of the hour.He hit the shot of the year.Five minutes into overtime, Kennard, from about 10 yards in front of the goal, buried a shot into the back of the net, giving third-seeded Cape Central a 3-2 win over top-seeded Jackson for the Class 4A, Disrict 1 soccer title at Southeast Missouri State University's soccer field Wednesday night."Cody Hill put a perfect ball across the middle," said Kennard. "It bounced right in front of me. I knocked it down and I put everything I had from this whole season into that shot and it went." Kennard had suffered a long scoring drought one that dated back to Oct. 7 but he busted out of that streak in a huge way."I challenged two players before the game," Central coach Tom Doyle said. "I said you guys owe me a goal. It's been too long since you guys have scored. Kennard was one." The other player he challenged didn't get a goal, but he did get the game-winning assist.Immediately following the goal, the team and a cluster of fans piled on top of Kennard."That was a rush," Kennard said. "I didn't want my senior year to end. Not here." Jackson's players, meanwhile, hung their heads in disappointment after the epic battle.But Jackson coach Bonnie Knowlan couldn't have asked for anything more from her team which finished the year at 11-10-5."I don't look at these guys as losers," Knowlan said. "You've got to have a little luck and we just didn't get it tonight. This team is the hardest working and has more heart than any team I've had the privilege of coaching. They played their hearts out and they're winners in my book."No one expected us to even be here. If you would've taken odds on it, people would've said they're too young and they don't have any scorers anymore. These guys proved they belong here." Cape Central (13-10-3) dominated in the early going and pressured Jackson virtually the entire first half.Arthur Pilsner stuck one in among traffic to give Central a 1-0 lead 14 minutes into the game.Jackson's Joe Weber evened the score at one at the 29-minute mark of the first half.Central took a 2-1 lead into halftime on a long shot by Chris Cole from near the edge of the box.Jackson tied the game at two on a brilliant shot that just barely hooked into the top left corner of the goal by Raju Dirnberger about five minutes into the second half.Both teams had opportunities to score again before regulation. Jackson had a shot ricochet off the crossbar and Jackson goalkeeper Ryan Sander and defender Dustin Adams kept Central out of the goal in a shot-and-rebound sequence.But for the most part, Jackson controlled the second half."(In the second half) I went to three on top instead of two on top and that really helped our offense and gave us better chances," Knowlan said. "The second half we were all over them. We had plenty of opportunities. But that's the thing about soccer. You gave to get some breaks."

"They got that goal early in the second half," Doyle said, "and I saw our heads hanging a little bit and we got a little bit panicky."

The Indians outshot the Tigers 17-14.