No OT necessary for Carroll-McCort
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By Nate Ritchey
nritchey@altoonamirror.com
Despite playing in different conferences, the Bishop Carroll-McCort and United boys soccer teams are no stranger to one another.
The two schools met twice in September with both matches going into double overtime.
For the first nearly 74 minutes on Tuesday night, OT looked very much to be on the horizon once again.
However, after 30 total shots, the second-seeded Crushkies finally got the goal they were looking for off a corner kick and held on for a 1-0 victory over the third-seeded Lions in District 6 Class 1A semifinal action at Mansion Park.
"It just comes down to them (Carroll-McCort) gut-checking," C-M coach Chad Ryan said. "We knew this was going to be tight, we knew it was going to come down to the wire. We just hoped it wasn't going to be overtime -- again! But these guys just wouldn't give up and I think that's how we got it (goal) in. Yes, a little bit of luck but I'll take it."
Bishop Carroll had eight corner kick attempts on the night, and one finally paid off.
With over six minutes to go, an Andrew Lucko corner from the left side found Ben Kirsch in front of the goal.
Kirsch's shot to the left corner was swatted back out of bounds for another corner on a diving save by United keeper Jackson Wirick.
It's not too often a player gets a similar opportunity immediately right after the first near miss.
"We've talked about it before where you always worry about corner kicks with them," United coach Chris Wirick said. "They are dangerous on corner kicks as we obviously saw."
Lucko directed his kick into the same general area and the ball bounced past a few Crushkies and Lions before Kirsch absolutely blasted the ball into the net -- giving Jackson Wirick no chance to slide over in time.
With 5:51 showing on the clock, Carroll-McCort finally capitalized after a myriad of chances all night.
"Jackson's an excellent goalie -- we knew that. And, he can move in the net," Coach Ryan said. "We just said to keep putting them on net because one is bound to go in."
The Crushkies drained the final time off the clock without any real threat from the Lions to advance to the championship on a day and time at a site to be determined.
During the regular season, the Crushkies claimed a 4-3 double overtime win on Sept. 16, while they two teams played to a 2-2 draw a week later.
In the opening 40 minutes, neither team was able to find the back of the net.
Both goalkeepers, Jackson Wirick and C-M's Angus Ryan, were busy
The Huskies ripped 18 shots and 10 made their way on goal, while the Lions placed five of their six shots on the goalmouth.
United came out of the half looking for many more opportunities on the attack.
The total shots were a lot closer as C-M had 13 to 10 by United, while the winners had a slight 6-5 edge in shots on goal.
United's best chance came with seven minutes remaining when a corner sailed across the goal to the left side where Gideon Bracken got a head on it, but directed it low enough but just barely wide left.
Off the near miss, C-M began its march downfield to put itself in position for the game-winning sequence.
For the match, Angus Ryan earned the shutout by making 10 saves, while Jackson Wirick stopped 15 of the 16 he faced.
"Gus has been solid for us -- he has over 200 saves this year," Coach Ryan said. "He stepped up when we needed it, but that all starts with the 10 in front of him as well."
SCORE BY HALVES
United 0 0 — 0
Carroll-McCort 0 1 — 1
Second half: CM--Kirsch (Lucko), 5:51.
Goalies: United -- Wirick: 15 saves, 16 shots on goal; CM-- Ryan: 10 saves, 10 shots on goal.
Shots: United 16, CM 31.
Corner kicks: United 5, CM 8.
Records: United (6-10-1); CM (8-9-2).