Published: October 07, 2008 01:26 am            

BOYS' SOCCER: Area rivals on collision course in sectionals

Local teams likely to square off at New Albany, Jeff

The status quo in local boys’ soccer looks as if it’s been maintained this season, with usual suspects like Floyd Central, New Albany, Providence and Jeffersonville fighting for favorite status entering the postseason.

Now it’s time to prove it.

Both the Jeffersonville and New Albany Sectionals will begin this week, with the winners advancing to the New Albany Regional beginning on Oct. 15. Joining the local sectional champions will be the representatives of sectionals from Madison — which will meet the Jeff winner — and Seymour, which matches up with the New Albany champion.



NEW ALBANY SECTIONAL

Though there is plenty of soccer to be played, it looks like the champion will likely emerge from Thursday’s first semifinal, where the winners of Wednesday’s two quarterfinals will meet at 5 p.m.

And, as usual, it should come down to New Albany and Floyd Central.

The Bulldogs will open with North Harrison at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, while the Highlanders will take on Corydon at 7 p.m. Floyd beat Corydon on Monday, 5-0.

“It’s always hard to beat a team twice, let alone a day after you beat them the first time,” said Floyd Central coach Zach Watson, who leads his team into the postseason for the first time as head coach.

Still, it’s hard not to look forward to the annual marquee matchup between the two largest schools in the field.

“If we were to end up playing New Albany, it’s guaranteed to be a battle,” Watson said. “It always ends up coming down to the final seconds.”

That applied when the teams met in the finals of last year’s tournament at Floyd, when Floyd Central prevailed 1-0 in overtime. The 2007 sectional bracket had much the same look, with New Albany scoring a victory over North Harrison and Floyd defeating Corydon. The addition of Silver Creek to this year’s field means the favorites must battle it out earlier, with the survivor to take on the Dragons or Salem in Saturday’s final.

This year’s regular-season meeting also came down to a single goal, as the Highlanders beat the Bulldogs, 1-0. To get a similar result, Floyd will likely have to beat another foe — fatigue.

The Highlanders will try to wrap up the Hoosier Hills Conference title tonight with a win over Seymour, a match that, when coupled with meeting Corydon on Monday, will mean that Floyd will have to win five matches in six days to fulfill two of its goals for the season and emerge as sectional champ.

“Our guys are tired, but they have the hunger to win,” said Watson. “We said we had three goals — to win the conference, to win the sectional and to be the first Floyd Central team to win a regional game.”

Whoever comes out of the bracket will take on the champion of the Seymour Sectional — likely No. 5-ranked Columbus North — in the next round.

“We really feel like Evansville, Bloomington, Indianapolis and the Chicago area get the most respect as far as soccer,” Watson said. “We want to try and win a regional to get a little of that attention.”



JEFFERSONVILLE SECTIONAL

It’s guaranteed that there won’t be a repeat of last year’s semifinal showdown between the host Red Devils and Providence.

That’s because the two perennial favorites in the field will have to meet in the final this time, a more appropriate setting for two teams that have shared the title since the smaller Jeff Sectional was created after the 2005-06 season. Even then, the Red Devils ended the Pioneers’ season with a one-goal victory.

Jeff will also have to play an extra game, meeting Rock Creek Christian Academy in Thursday’s opener, with the winner meeting Christian Academy of Indiana in the second of two semifinals on Saturday morning. Providence will have to get past Charlestown in its tourney opener to meet the winner of the second game in the finals.

The Pioneers will be the favorite, having come on lately to win rivalry matchups with both New Albany and Jeff. Providence took down the Bulldogs 3-0 last Monday, just two days after dispatching Jeff by a similar 4-0 margin, as goalkeeper Spence Kraft continued a brilliant season in goal.

And with offensive weapons like Omar Salguero, Ben Hughes and Keenan Sparks, goals are seldom hard to come by for the Pioneers.

The Red Devils have struggled over the past two weeks, losing to all three of their biggest rivals in the Pioneers, New Albany and Floyd Central. The loss to the Highlanders ended an inspired second half for Jeff, but Floyd answered the tying goal just seconds after the Devils scored and then held on for the win.

CAI could challenge the tourney hosts with its retooled team. This will be the first sectional where CAI has gone in with an all-boys’ team, as the school’s girls’ team broke off on its own this season. Last year, Jeff advanced to the regional by beating the coed Warriors 2-0 in the sectional final.

        

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