SLUH hands Central its first loss in the state semifinals

FENTON, Mo. -- Central's magical boys soccer season won't include a state title.

The Tigers lost 3-2 in overtime Friday night at the Anheuser-Busch Center to St. Louis University High, ending a 26-game win streak with their first loss in more than a year.

The Class 3 semifinal loss dropped the Tigers to 26-1 and will pit them against the loser of Friday's late Rockhurst-Chaminade game at noon today.

The Junior Billikens were the last team to beat Central in a 4-0 sectional game last season. But unlike a year ago, both teams played almost evenly Friday.

"Hopefully this will get some respect for our team," Central coach Tom Doyle said.

The Junior Billikens came out with their possession offense and kept the Tigers on their heels early.

"We were probably a little nervous," Doyle said. "I could sense they were tight warming up."

SLUH's offense came out firing. The Junior Billikens hit a post in the first five minutes and had several other strong scoring chances. Even when the Tigers did get the ball, they were often outnumbered with few options up top.

"I think we were playing decent. We had some ball control," Doyle said. "But we were getting flustered and started hitting the ball long."

Despite a hesitant Tony Leuckel in goal early for the Tigers, Central remained unscathed until late in the half. Joe Germanese, the Junior Billikens' all-American forward, got loose inside the box and beat Leuckel with 15 minutes left before halftime for a 1-0 lead.

"When we got down, course our morale went down," Central midfielder Aaron Bornstein said. "There was no way I thought we could come back."

Central's title chances took another hit just minutes into the second half when Germanese headed in his second goal of the game for a 2-0 lead. For the second straight game Central found itself in a second-half hole.

"We got down two goals," Doyle said, "and that fired us up."

Less than 10 minutes after Germaneses' goal, the Tigers struck back with forward Heath Orr. Calen Wills started the play with a cross from the corner. Jordan Duncan used a scissors kick to deflect it by the goalie and Orr finished it off for his 36th goal.

"It seemed like we had the momentum," Doyle said.

Leuckel came up with several big saves down the stretch to help the Tigers stay within a goal. With 13 minutes remaining, SLUH forward David Mueller broke free, but Leuckel came out to make a sliding save.

"Tony Leuckel, he was amazing," Orr said. "He kept us in the game. He's definitely our MVP tonight."

Just minutes after Leuckel's save Duncan took a corner kick from Wills and headed it into the goal to tie the game. Both teams had good chances late in regulation but remained tied heading into overtime.

SLUH had several shots early, but just three minutes into overtime it looked like the Tigers would win their third straight overtime decision.

Wills found himself with space in front of him and blasted a long-distance shot that tested Junior Billiken goalie Ben Brockland.

Central gathered the rebound and got a cross off, which both Duncan and Orr had shots at. It went wide.

"It was tough seeing that one go wide," Orr said. "Duncan was right there, and I missed it by a foot or two."

Central's fortune sunk quickly when Germanese came down on the other side of the field and hit a slow shot off the inside of the left post and into the net for a hat-trick and a place in the final.

"It was tough. My heart dropped," Bornstein said. "I couldn't believe it took that bounce off the post. It just didn't bounce our way."

Orr, who has scored in each of the Tigers' playoff games this year, said the Tigers realize they still have something to play for today.

"We're going to come back out," he said, "and take third place back to Cape."

jjoffray@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 171