TIGERS SHUT OUT SIKESTON

Cape Central's soccer team made it look easy Tuesday night.

The Tigers dominated in every facet of the game and emerged with a 4-0 shutout of Sikeston at Southeast Missouri State's intramural field.

Chris Cole scored two goals, the first two of the game for Cape Central.

His first came at the 28-minute mark of the first half on a penalty kick.

The Tigers, despite dominating the first half, led just 1-0 at the intermission.

It didn't take long for Central (4-5) to put the contest away in the second half. One minute into the second half, Cole scored on an assist from Chris Jones.

"I told them we had to score early and we scored in the first minute," said Central coach Tom Doyle. "We controlled the first half, but we were only up one. One fluke goal or something and they're right back in it. That's why that second goal was so important. We make their year if they come and beat us on our home field."

From that point on -- especially in the next 10 minutes -- Central kept the pressure on Sikeston and had one scoring opportunity after another.

Clint Hoffman scored on an assist from Whit Lynn at the 54-minute mark to put the Tigers ahead 3-0 and Jon Mark Thompson capped off the scoring 19 minutes into the second half, punching in an unassisted goal to make it 4-0.

Central's Trevor Blattner played an excellent game in goal, making two one-on-one saves late in the game to preserve the shutout. He robbed Adam Hahs of a goal on a penalty kick and later stopped Brad Deere, who had broken free of a defender and had just Blattner to beat. Those were Sikeston's two best opportunities.

"Trevor has always come up big," said Doyle. "He just flat makes the plays."

But the main reason for Central's success was its accurate passing.

"I thought we played real well," Doyle said. "The ball control was so much better this game. Playing on this surface makes a big difference. It's smooth so you get sure bounces. And they didn't put as much pressure on us so we had more time to make good passes."