Unbeaten Tigers tack on a district title

In the first of two days of district championship showdowns between Central and Poplar Bluff, the Tigers' boys soccer team remained undefeated with a 5-1 win Wednesday night at Jackson.

Central improved to 24-0 and will play in the sectional round Tuesday at Houck Stadium against the winner of today's District 2 final. The schools' football teams play today at Poplar Bluff.

"Hopefully we can keep breaking records and win our first sectional game," Central midfielder Aaron Bornstein said.

Central, which beat Poplar Bluff 1-0 in their last meeting, had the majority of the good scoring chances early. Mules goalie Greg Clark robbed Central forward Heath Orr on a header from point-blank range and was saved by the post on a volley from Jordan Duncan.

"We had the wind, and we had a lot of chances," Central coach Tom Doyle said. "But we were shooting the ball so hard it was sailing."

While the Tigers had the scoring chances, Poplar Bluff nearly freed up forward Justin Alford on several occasions.

"They had a guy in there, No. 5, who was pretty fast," Bornstein said. "They were just trying to play long balls over the top of our defenders."

Central stuck defender Dean Richardson on Alford and prevented him from getting a strong shot on goal in the first half.

Orr scored with six minutes remaining, and he put in a rebound off a Trey Willis shot just two minutes later. The score was 2-0 at halftime.

Bryan Ross opened the second half with a goal only seven minutes in to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. The goal gave the Tigers breathing room after a tight first half.

"I think the first goal of the second half was really the turning point," Bornstein said.

But Poplar Bluff wasn't done. Minutes after Ross' goal, Alford fought through several Central defenders and cut the lead to 3-1.

"Being the only undefeated team left, we knew they were going to come out hard," Duncan said.

Central didn't allow the Mules to get anything going after the goal and put the game away with a Bornstein goal with 28 minutes remaining. Bornstein capped the night's scoring with a goal off a Calen Wills free kick.

Orr's two goals moved his season total to 31, a school record. Orr held the previous record of 29, set last season. Wills finished the game with three assists and Willis had one.

Bornstein said the team can't get caught up in the hype and needs to just take it one game at a time.

"Right now," he said, "all we need to look forward to is the sectional game."