NewsAthleticsAcademicsSoccer
Tigers wrap up area crown, 4-2
Apr 10, 2007 12:00 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Written by Jeremy Wood, Rome News-Tribune Sports Writer
For 20 years, Kevin Ivester has envisioned leading a Darlington boys soccer team to an area title.
Thursday, with the score tied at 1 with defending champ Calhoun at halftime, Ivester asked his players to close their eyes and share in his dream. They did, and 40 minutes later the Tigers had their Area 7-AA/A title by virtue of a 4-2 victory.
"I told them at halftime to visualize us standing here after the game with an (area) title in our hands," said Ivester, who won the last of four region titles as a Darlington senior in 1987. "I've always wanted to bring us back to the region championship."
Ivester said the title was especially sweet because it was the first for the three seniors on the roster, but it was a pair of underclassmen who made the difference in unseating the Jackets.
Cody Anderson scored two goals and assisted on another, while Justin Smith had two assists.
Senior Martin Schmitz-Drager scored the go-ahead goal in the 61st minute off Anderson's feed, and Will Orr headed in a long indirect kick off Smith's foot in the 71st to give Darlington a badly needed insurance goal.
"We really put it together in the second half," Ivester said. "The first half we didn't play our normal possession game, so at halftime we talked about going back to our game, and we got three more goals."
Anderson, who tapped in a first-half indirect kick by Smith to start the scoring, made a big defensive play at midfield to set up the go-ahead goal. Stealing the ball, he fed out a long ball to toward the goal box and out in front of the streaking Schmitz-Drager.
The celebration looked to be on when a foul in the box resulted in a penalty kick for Anderson, who converted in the 66th minute to put the Tigers up 3-1. But Calhoun refused to die. Two minutes later, Ruben Maldonado lofted a beautiful direct kick over a wall of defenders and out of the reach of keeper Cris Lowe, bringing the Jackets within a goal.
But instead of trying to sit on the lead, the Tigers clinched the game in the 71st when Smith sent a long indirect kick to the front of the net and Orr somehow got his head on the ball and past the keeper.
For 20 years, Kevin Ivester has envisioned leading a Darlington boys soccer team to an area title.
Thursday, with the score tied at 1 with defending champ Calhoun at halftime, Ivester asked his players to close their eyes and share in his dream. They did, and 40 minutes later the Tigers had their Area 7-AA/A title by virtue of a 4-2 victory.
"I told them at halftime to visualize us standing here after the game with an (area) title in our hands," said Ivester, who won the last of four region titles as a Darlington senior in 1987. "I've always wanted to bring us back to the region championship."
Ivester said the title was especially sweet because it was the first for the three seniors on the roster, but it was a pair of underclassmen who made the difference in unseating the Jackets.
Cody Anderson scored two goals and assisted on another, while Justin Smith had two assists.
Senior Martin Schmitz-Drager scored the go-ahead goal in the 61st minute off Anderson's feed, and Will Orr headed in a long indirect kick off Smith's foot in the 71st to give Darlington a badly needed insurance goal.
"We really put it together in the second half," Ivester said. "The first half we didn't play our normal possession game, so at halftime we talked about going back to our game, and we got three more goals."
Anderson, who tapped in a first-half indirect kick by Smith to start the scoring, made a big defensive play at midfield to set up the go-ahead goal. Stealing the ball, he fed out a long ball to toward the goal box and out in front of the streaking Schmitz-Drager.
The celebration looked to be on when a foul in the box resulted in a penalty kick for Anderson, who converted in the 66th minute to put the Tigers up 3-1. But Calhoun refused to die. Two minutes later, Ruben Maldonado lofted a beautiful direct kick over a wall of defenders and out of the reach of keeper Cris Lowe, bringing the Jackets within a goal.
But instead of trying to sit on the lead, the Tigers clinched the game in the 71st when Smith sent a long indirect kick to the front of the net and Orr somehow got his head on the ball and past the keeper.
