Storm third in own tournament

Sunday, September 14, 2008

After scoring just three goals in their first seven contests — all of which were defeats — the Hopkins County Central boys’ soccer team doubled that tally and came within 15 minutes of putting together back-to-back victories in this weekend’s Storm Tournament, eventually taking third place in the six-team field.

Central knocked off Dawson Springs on Friday night 1-0 on a goal by Cody Heady, and led visiting Todd County Central by one in the latter stages of their contest Saturday afternoon before allowing two late goals to lose 5-4.

“We’re disappointed,” Central co-coach Charlie Chinn said. “We looked like we were going pretty good, and I thought the game was going to go our way, but (Todd County Central) really hung in.

“We just lost momentum and they had it at the end.”

Prior to Friday’s victory over Dawson Springs, the Storm had been shut out in five of their seven contests, so Chinn was pleased to see a glut of goals come from Central’s attack.

“I think we’re coming along, I just wish it’d came sooner,” Chinn said. “We’re getting closer to where we want to be.”

Central had been in control for much of the contest, taking a 3-2 lead into the halftime break and doubling their advantage on Justin Jones’ second goal of the game just seven minutes into the second half.

The Rebels hung tough, however, and notched a pair of goals just two minutes apart late in the game, one each by Kyle Power and Armando Flores, to hand the Storm a difficult loss.

Jones scored two goals for Central on the day. In addition to his second half strike, the senior midfielder took a pass from Thomas Miller and finished it off late in the first half to put the Storm on top after 40 minutes of play.

“It took us a while to get used to playing with each other and we finally got it down,” Jones said about the team’s offensive output in the tournament. “We’re getting our passes...We finally picked it up playing against Dawson and took it into today.”

The game got off to an ominous start for the Central, as they fell behind just six minutes in after a goal by the Rebels’ Michael Rager. The Storm’s leading scorer, Carlos Diaz, had two good opportunities in the minutes following Rager’s goal, but couldn’t find the touch needed to even the match.

A foul in the box midway through the first gave Central the opportunity they were looking for, however, as Wesley Ipock slammed home the penalty kick to tie the contest, 1-1.

That penalty kick began a flurry of action, with the two squads combining for three more goals in the final 18 minutes of the half.

Less than four minutes after Ipock’s goal, Diaz finally broke through, juking the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation and scoring in the empty net to put the Storm in front.

The Rebels tied the game just three minutes following Diaz’s goal, with Kyle Power finishing up an opportunity after Central keeper Josh Riley was unable to

control the ball in the box.

Jones then put the Storm in front just before the break, and stretched the lead with another goal early in the second.

Flores scored the first of his two goals in the 55th minute to pull the visitors within one, 4-3, setting the table for his team’s late-game heroics.

As the day progressed the temperature climbed and all teams were forced into a “heat delay” as the heat index topped 105 degrees.

Another delay in action came when a Todd County Central player was lifeflighted from the field after suffering a head injury. The player was later released from the hospital with a concussion.

With temperatures too high to play on the varsity field, teams were forced to play on Central’s lower practice field, including the Storm’s second game of the day, a 6-1 loss to Muhlenberg North.

The Stars showed the heat was no factor by scoring twice in the opening eight minutes.

Central had several opportunities to get on the board in the first half, but could not quite square up the frame and Muhlenberg North led 3-0 at halftime.

Both teams took water breaks every twenty minutes, and during the halftime break Central coaches passed out water and pieces of fruit.

“The coaches cut us oranges to give us sugar and keep us hydrated,” Jones said.

Heady said that the heat didn’t play much of a factor while the team was on the field, but the delays were tiring.

“I think it wore us out because we had to wait longer and longer to play,” he said.

After the intermission, Muhlenberg North scored ten minutes into the second half for a 4-0 lead.

The Storm finally got on the board, however, when Wesley Ipock sent a long kick from near the opposite goal to Diaz who accepted the pass, blew by three Star defenders and nailed one to the back of the net.

The goal proved to be the team’s only of the game as Muhlenberg North added two more, but the score marked Central’s third consecutive game with a goal.

“We didn’t think offense would be our problem at the beginning of the season,” Chinn said. “We’ve had a ton of good shots this year. Early, none of them were going, eventually the law of average on some of those had to catch up, and I think that’s what’s happening.”

With the team’s play showing great signs of improvement, Chinn said he’s hopeful for what is left to come.

Central (1-9-0) returns to action 7:15 p.m. Thursday when the Storm play host to Trigg County.