Tigers turn back Northwest in semis

~ Central won 7-0 and kept its players fresh for the third meeting of the season with Jackson.

Central pumped in two early goals to open the second half, and that's when Northwest came unglued.

The Lions players, from the defense to the forwards, started yelling at each other about lack of coverage and who needed to cover who. That's when the Tigers were assured they'd move on in the playoffs.

Central added two more goals to run away with the 7-0 victory over Northwest in their Class 3 District 1 soccer semifinal Monday.

The Tigers, who last won a district title in 2005, face Jackson for the district championship. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. today at Central.

"Any time you play Cape and Jackson, you just throw the records out," Central coach Tom Doyle said. "It doesn't matter what the records are. Anything can happen. These kids play with each other, they respect each other and it's good, hard soccer."

Central won the first meeting between the two teams this season, 1-0 on Sept. 18, then dropped the second game, 2-0 on Oct. 11. The district title is on the line in the rubber game.

"We came out strong and hopefully tomorrow night we come out as strong as we did tonight," Central junior Lucian Johnson said.

Central's offense made sure the Tigers advanced to the district title game. Central entered halftime with a 3-0 lead after controlling the ball for most of the opening half. The Tigers dominated in the opening minutes of the second half, getting one goal from Jesse Lawrence and another from Brooks Osburn for the five-goal lead. That's when the Northwest players started chirping at each other.

"That's one thing, we try to keep our own composure," Johnson said. "We try not to step down to their level and play up to our potential."

Central took an early lead when it used a counterattack to catch the Lions. Cole Viers took a long pass from Tommy McGowan then raced down the left side, cut in toward the goal and blasted a low shot past the Northwest keeper.

Johnson doubled the lead when he worked in from the right then got a shot off to his right that also beat the goalie with about 15 minutes left in the first half. Mike Alberson capped the first-half scoring about eight minutes later.

Dustin Welker and Dillon Huber rounded out the scoring for the Tigers.

"We didn't know we were going to be as good as we were tonight because we had some off nights," Welker said. "But we did fairly decent tonight and we were able to rest some guys."

Doyle said he was thankful for the early lead that kept increasing because it allowed him to rest some of his starters.

"I probably played 21 of my 25 players in the first half," Doyle said. "To me, a two-goal lead or three-goal lead is probably at a time where you worry about an injury. You also get concerned about keeping them fresh for tomorrow."