Sunday, Nov. 01, 2009

Tigers claim sectional soccer title

Knock off Providence Catholic in 2 overtimes

EDWARDSVILLE -- When it counted the most, Edwardsville High seniors Cameron Lauchner and Nick Marshall were at their best Saturday.

Lauchner launched a perfect free kick from about 30 yards out on the right side, and Marshall leaped into the air and converted a header from in front of the left post that gave the Tigers a 2-1 victory in two overtimes against Providence Catholic.

"I had the ball down the sidelines and this kid came in and used his body a little more than I could," said Lauchner, referring to a foul called on the Celtics. "They called obstruction."

That was the opening the Tigers needed.

"Cam always plays me a good ball," Marshall said. "He was curving it in there and floating it. I just read it right, I guess, got over the (defender) and put it on goal."

Marshall's goal, which came 37 seconds into the second 10-minute sudden-death overtime, improved the Tigers' record to 17-3-4 and sending them to the Peoria Notre Dame Super-Sectional at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Edwardsville will meet Blue Island Eisenhower, which defeated Chicago Brother Rice 1-0 in four overtimes Saturday to win the Homewood-Flossmoor Sectional.

Providence Catholic finished 13-9-4.

"Lauchner, because of his scoring ability, is always such a threat," Edwardsville coach Mark Heiderscheid said. "He keeps the ball and gets lots and lots of touches. We were kind of fortunate we got to put the ball down there, and then Marshall flicks it and that's that.

"Lauchner puts in a tremendous ball --always. He's just got such a great touch. That's always going to give us a chance."

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game when the Celtics were unable to clear and senior Adam Flaugher finished from the left side.

"We got the early goal and that really set a good tone for us," Heiderscheid said. "We were knocking the ball around pretty effectively and that was a great shot by Flaugher. "That's a class-type finish that moves you in the playoffs."

The game became more physical in the second half, with both teams being called for fouls with more regularity.

But it was a handball in the box on Tigers junior Peter Renken that helped the Celtics tie the game. Senior Ian Land blasted in the ensuing penalty kick past sophomore goalie Daniel Brennan in the 65th minute.

"We broke down," Lauchner said. "In the second half, they came out flying and started playing a little more chippy. We got out of our game and started playing theirs a little bit. It was about time for us to have a little collapse, but we (stayed) strong and kept them to one goal."

Junior Sam Fink almost won the game for the Tigers in the first overtime, but his header on a corner kick by senior Gregg Flores was grabbed by senior keeper Alec Pickett, who made a quick lateral move to his right.

"It looks in, but the goalkeeper comes out of nowhere at the last second and gets it," Heiderscheid said. "I had a real good view from my vantage point. (Fink) just knocked it right back to that near-post side. Boy, it looked like the game was over, and the goalkeeper came up huge."