By DAVE RISLEY - Sports Information Director, www.postyourt.org
Subject: POSTYOURT.ORG Indiana East/West High School Soccer All Star Games celebrating all four classes
When: Saturday November 6, 2010
Where: Park Tudor High School, Indianapolis, Indiana
Producer: www.postyourt.org
The POSTYOURT All-Star soccer games were held on Saturday November 6, 2010 at Park Tudor High School. This was the third time the boys games were held, and the second time for the girls games. 279 athletes participated throughout the day, attendance was very good, crowds were enthusiastic, and players competed hard. The weather was chilly, although the sun was present for much of the day.
Recaps for the four boys games are below in the order in which they were played. Recaps of the three girls games are in another press release.
4A Boys Game: EAST 2, WEST 2 (tie)
The first boys game of the day was scoreless for only about four minutes when JaCoby Smith (Marion) powered a shot into the net to give the East a 1-0 lead.
A short time later, the West scored back-to-back goals within two minutes to take the lead. Kelvin Arias (South Bend Riley) scored a goal and then David Patton (Evansville North) pushed the ball into the net for a 2-1 West advantage with 24 minutes left to play in the first half.
Fourteen more minutes passed until JaCoby Smith again found the back of the net on a shot for the East that tied the score 2-2. Smith later was named Most Valuable Player of the 4A Boys game.
“It felt great,” Smith said. “I had a lot of fun. It was nice coming down here to play with a great bunch of guys. It was good competition. After my second goal, we started playing better defense, but we just couldn’t get that additional goal to win. I also swim and dive and plan to play baseball in the spring. I also plan to play soccer and study business in college, but I haven’t decided yet on where I’m going.”
The second half was scoreless, but did not lack for excitement. The teams went back-and-forth up and down the field. Both teams had their opportunities, but could not convert their shots into goals. So, like the 1A Girls game that preceded it, this game ended in a 2-2 deadlock.
3A Boys Game: EAST 2, WEST 2 (tie)
As in the two games that were played before it, this game ended in a 2-2 draw.
After eight minutes of play elapsed, Cole Priebe (Crawfordsville) booted the ball into the net to give the West an early 1-0 lead. The score stayed that way for about 14 minutes. Then, Bob White (Connersville) powered in a goal for the East to deadlock the contest 1-1, and the score remained that at halftime.
Five minutes into the second half, Matt Mummert (Crawfordsville) scored a goal to again give the lead to his West team 2-1. Both teams battled furiously for the next 28 minutes, but neither team could push the ball into the net.
Just when it appeared the West would hang on for the victory, an East shot appeared to be stopped by the West goalkeeper. But the ball escaped his grasp and trickled through the goal. It was ruled an “own goal,” allowing the East to tie the score 2-2 with less than two minutes left to play in the game.
Neither team could score a goal thereafter, so the contest ended in a 2-2 tie.
Connor Wiederhoeft (Jennings County) of the East team was named Most Valuable Player of the 3A Boys game.
“I want to thank this organization for having me here and for the MVP award,” Wiederhoeft said. “It was a good opportunity to bring all these boys together to play an all-star game. We got to know each other’s names, but not much else before we started playing. The tie was weird, but it was a very competitive game. I also play baseball. I plan to play soccer at a mechanical college somewhere.”
2A Boys Game: WEST 4, East 0
It didn’t take the West team long to get on the scoreboard in this one. Brett Stapleton (Tri-West) punched in a ball with less than two minutes gone in the contest to stake the West to a 1-0 lead.
About 26 minutes of action went by before the West got on the board again. Shawn Krager (Hanover Central) kicked a ball into the net to give his team a 2-0 advantage.
With about 10 seconds left to play in the first half, Shawn Krager scored his second goal of the half to give the West a big 3-0 lead at halftime. Krager later was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2A Boys game.
“First of all, I want to say thank you for this great opportunity and this award,” Krager said. “I had a great bunch of teammates for today’s game. We didn’t know each other before today, but I know there was a lot of talent on this team. They gave me a lot of great balls and luckily I was in the right spot so I could score. It was cold, and I hadn’t played in two weeks, but I worked up quite a sweat. I haven’t received any college offers yet, but I plan to attend college somewhere and play soccer.”
Six minutes into the second half, Derek Droeger (Indpls. Covenant Christian) powered the ball into the net to increase the West advantage to 4-0. Both teams threatened to score in the remaining 29 minutes of the game, but neither one could notch a goal. So the West team celebrated its 4-0 win.
1A Boys Game: WEST 2, East 1
The final game of the day was past-paced from the get-go, and remained that way throughout the contest.
Justin Peter (Tell City) got the West on the scoreboard first with a goal at the 27 minute mark of the first half for a 1-0 advantage.
The score stayed that way for the next 12 minutes until Josh Carow (Indpls. Lutheran) powered a ball into the net for the East to knot the game at 1-1.
For the final 12 minutes of the first half and the first 20 minutes of the second half, West goalie Alex Manion (Oakland City Wood Memorial) withstood an onslaught of shots by East players, many from cat-quick Austin Altimus (Lakewood Park Christian). But none of them penetrated the goal. The West also had several attempts stymied by the East goalkeeper.
With about 15 minutes remaining in the game, Ethan Linne (Forest Park) scored a goal to give the West a 2-1 lead. The action continued hot-and-heavy to the end, but no more shots made it into the net. So the West held on for a satisfying 2-1 victory.
For his work in goal, Alex Manion was named Most Valuable Player of the 1A Boys game.
“I appreciate the opportunity to play in this game,” Manion said. I played goalie full-time at Wood Memorial, so I just went out and tried to play the best that I could. My teammates helped out a lot with their defense and scoring enough goals for us to win. I don’t have any definite college plans yet, but I will be playing basketball and golf in my remaining senior year. I hope to play in the all-star basketball games this organization has after basketball season.”