LADY TIGERS TUMBLE

FENTON, Mo. -- Cape Girardeau Central High girls soccer coach Tom Doyle probably wishes the first five minutes of Tuesday's Class 4A Sectional game against Rockwood Summit could be played over.

Two minutes into the contest at the Anheuser-Busch Conference and Sports Centre, Central standout senior defender Ashlie Voerg had to be helped off the field after suffering a knee injury.

And less than three minutes after that, Summit scored the game's first goal on a perfectly executed corner kick that was headed in.

Sufficiently fueled by their fast start, the Lady Falcons ended the Lady Tigers' season with a 2-1 victory.

Summit will carry a 22-3-1 record into Saturday's state quarterfinals. Central finishes the campaign with a 15-6-6 mark.

"Losing Ashlie hurt because she's one of our most experienced players," said Doyle. "Then they score a goal right away and it's tough to play from behind."

Voerg, after missing the remainder of the first half, managed to return to the field for the second half, but she hobbled off again after about 15 minutes and never made it back.

"Losing her two minutes in had to deflate them," said Summit coach Mark Bayens. "But to their credit, they kept coming."

Central, although outplayed for much of the contest by the speedy Lady Falcons, managed to make things interesting midway through the second half.

Trailing 2-0, the Lady Tigers finally scored as Allie McGinty barely beat Summit goalkeeper Abby Barnes to a free ball, tipped it past Barnes and then easily dented the open net. Emily Morris, who had directed a pass toward McGinty in the middle of the field, received credit for an assist.

But the Lady Tigers never seriously threatened to tie things over the final 20 minutes of the contest.

The Lady Falcons' first goal, just 4:30 into the game, was a beauty. Julie Berkel directed a corner kick to Trisha Neidenbach, who went up and headed it past Central keeper Heather Hey.

"I thought we came out and really controlled play the first 10 minutes," Bayens said. "The corner kick was a great ball and we had a nice header."

Summit carried that 1-0 lead into halftime. The Lady Falcons made it 2-0 a little more than 11 minutes into the second half when Julie Ballheimer took a pass from Jamie Perry and drilled a shot past Hey from about 15 yards out.

Hey, who made several nice saves in the game, was able to keep the Lady Falcons from scoring again, which allowed the Lady Tigers to stay in the contest and they had legitimate hopes of at least forcing overtime after McGinty's goal. But they could not get the equalizer.

"It was a 1-1 tie in the second half. It was probably a 60-40 game their way and they had good opportunities, but our biggest problem is we didn't shoot the ball," Doyle said. "When we had opportunities, we didn't shoot enough. We were too unselfish, trying to make the extra pass.

"But Summit is a very good team. They were a little quicker than I thought. You don't win 22 games without being good."

Despite the defeat, Doyle proclaimed it another strong season for the Lady Tigers, who won their fifth straight district title despite starting several freshmen.

Central does lose some key seniors -- including all-time scoring leader Amber Voerg, who finished her exceptional high school career with a staggering 103 goals -- but the future appears bright.

"With as young as we are, going 15-6-6 was a pretty decent record, and the district championship was nice," said Doyle.