The players went at the game with reckless abandon.

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Central & Western Tie; Western Will Go To The Conference Soccer Tournament

Late Central Goal Is Disallowed . . . Preserving the Tie

October 7, 2012       Leave a Comment
By: John Keuvelaar

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The game held more than rivalry pride between Bay City's Central and Western high schools. It held the Saginaw Valley league Tournament berth implications and no matter what happened, one team was going home disappointed. Western needed a tie to qualify while Central had to win to get in. A furious second half almost netted that victory for the Wolves but an off sides call denied a goal as the game ended in a tie.

Western came out on the attack putting pressure on Central's goalkeeper early. Then Briton Ott from the far right side of the field finds the far left corner of the net for Western to give them a 1-0 lead. The game settled down into a battle of the midfield as both teams couldn't seem to mount deep sustained offensive pressure. Then Central's Leon Feischen took a crossing pass from Daniel Damian and scored to knot the game at 1 apiece. Western got back in front with four minutes left in the first half when Duncan Holman scored. Central prevented Western from doing any further damage buy kicking out of play any potential rushes in Central territory. The second half took on a whole new level of urgency. Central kept constant ball control and pressure while Western took advantage of long kicks to run down the ball looking for breakaway chances. Early in the second half, the strategy almost paid off for Western. A long kick down the middle of the field was run down by Western's Briton Ott. While Central's defense was able to turn him out, Ott controlled the ball. He then turned back inside and kicked a nice hooking shot that hit the cross bar preventing a goal.

Central immediately responded when Zac Murawski rushed down the right side of Central's offensive zone. Kicking for the near corner, the Western goalkeeper Nich Christensen made a great stop. Moments later, Central's Kyle Grew hit a long kick that was just above the cross bar. Central kept the pressure up as they found Murawski again along the right side with his kick just missed the far corner. Western then responded with a long pass over the pulled in defense. The pass found Ott whose kick went just wide. This was the kind of action throughout the entire half.

As the teams approached the midway mark of the second half, Centrals constant pressure paid off. Duane London jumped on a turnover in front of the net. London buried the shot in the right corner to knot the game at 2-2. Central thought they had the go ahead goal with just over 5 minutes to play. A pass to the front of the net resulted in a blocked shot. When the rebound was not cleared, Central's Leon Feischen booted a shot that just eluded Western's goalkeeper. But Feischen was whistled for off sides on the play and the tie score stood.

The last two minutes was exciting and furious. Each team was looking for the game winning shot but to no avail. With the tie, Western walked away with a birth in the league tournament while Central was left with what could have been.

To see more game photos
Go to www.koovsphotography.smugmug.com.

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John Keuvelaar
John Keuvelaar is a college student at Midwest Photography Workshops and Delta College. More from John Keuvelaar

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