Central remains hot by posting fifth consecutive victory

Central boys soccer coach Dan Martin likes the way his team has responded after a slow start to the season.

Tuesday night was no different as the host Tigers made a two-goal first half stand up for a 2-0 win over Poplar Bluff.

The win was the Tigers' fifth in a row and upped their season record to 9-6, Poplar Bluff fell to 1-10-1.

"That's five good wins in a row for us," Martin said after the game. "After 11 road games, it's nice to be home."

With the win, Central remained unbeaten at home at 4-0.

"This was a good conference win for us," Martin said.

Central dominated the first half, firing 13 shots -- nine on goal -- and limiting the Mules to just two shots.

The Tigers broke through in the eighth minute when Ethan Groshong took a long throw-in from the sideline and pushed it ahead to Duncan McKinley, who worked his way toward the goal. From about 10 yards out, McKinley got free and blasted a low, left-footed shot that found the corner of the net.

"I thought I had a shot, but there were a couple defenders in front of me," McKinley said. "I was trying to get a half-step where I could open up and shoot. When I did, I just aimed for the corner and got it there."

Central’s Preston Mecum works around Poplar Bluff’s Jeffery Hardin during the Tigers’ game against the Mules Tuesday at Central High School. Central posted a 2-0 victory. (Adam Vogler)

Central's second goal came off a pretty assist from Eric Craiglow, who took a short throw-in and lifted a long, high ball toward the front of the net where Dashaun Blissett got behind the defense and poked it past Reyes.

"I saw the ball coming and I saw the defender miss it, and I just caught it with my knee," Blissett said.

Martin said maintaining possession of the ball in the attacking third enabled the Tigers to penetrate Poplar Bluff's defense and set up a number of scoring chances.

"I think the first half we had a lot of good possessions, and that was hard to counter," Martin said. "In the second half they turned that around."

The Mules changed their attack at halftime, and looked like a different team over the second 40 minutes. Central was limited to just two shots on goal the rest of the way, but the Tigers' defense was up to the challenge.

Goalkeeper Nathan Mecum finished with six saves for the Tigers.

"In the second half we made a couple of adjustments, and the boys came out and responded well," Poplar Bluff coach Steven Edwards said. "We had a good halftime talk. We challenged them, and I thought we were much more aggressive in the second half."

Mules senior forward Jonathan Hardin agreed.

"In the first half we didn't go to the ball like we should and possess it," he said. "But they didn't score another goal, and they only got two shots on goal in the second half."

Hardin suggested the Mules weren't ready at the onset.

"We weren't ready to play in the first half," he said. "They pressured us, and we were not as aggressive as we were in the second half."

Edwards gave a congratulatory nod to the Tigers.

"Cape is a great team, well coached," he said. "For the most part we dominated in the second half. We just didn't get the ball in the net, and that's the name of the game."

Poplar Bluff's best shots at scoring came in the second half, once when Omar Gomez got free down the right side and shot just wide in the 53rd minute, and again in the 70th minute when Jeffrey Hardin lifted a long pass from midfield to the front of the goal where Jose Ventura got a foot on it but touched it just wide.

"We just tried to keep them from playing the ball over the top," McKinley said. "We just wanted to keep it out of their attacking third."