Central ousts West in soccer

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Jan-Michael Stump
Jan-Michael Stump

October 22, 2009

Osburn nets both goals as Trojans advance to final

BY JAMES COOK The Record Eagle Thu Oct 22, 2009, 07:42 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY -- Queen's "We Are The Champions" blared from an iPod in the bleachers as players milled around after the game.

Not quite yet, but Traverse City Central is certainly a big step closer.

The Trojans downed Traverse City West 2-1 in a Division 1 soccer district semifinal Wednesday night, marking the first time since the school split that Central has beaten West in the playoffs -- and won twice against their rivals in the same season.

Trevor Osburn scored both Central goals -- on the team's only two shots on net.

"We finished our chances," Trojans coach Rob Boynton said. "We didn't get a lot of them. We talked about that all year. When you play good teams, you're not going to get a lot (of chances). So when you do, you better finish it, and Trevor did a great job. He had two looks at the goal, and he put them both in."

Osburn scored at the 11-minute mark off a Luke Grof assist to give the Trojans an early lead.

"Greg (Merica) put a good ball out to Luke and I was just streaking down the middle wide open and yelled at Luke," Osburn said. "Luke picked his head up, put the ball at my feet and I just had to put it in."

After the defensive battle went into halftime 1-0, Osburn struck again just 1:17 into the second half on a give-and-go with Merica.

From there on, Central packed it in on defense, playing with four defenders and five midfielders back and only Osburn up top.

"We had great communication on defense," said defender Nolan Jaenicke. "Everybody was clocking and finding their marks. We kept track of Jon (Spencer) and Brady (Fagan) really, really well. It just all worked today."

West managed to score with 5:13 left as a shot by Ricardo Rodriguez bounced off a defender and into the goal.

Jaenicke left the game for about 10 minutes after receiving a gash on his upper lip just 22 seconds after Central's first goal.

"The ball popped up right in front of the net and I saw two guys going for it," Jaenicke said. "And the closest object to it was my head, so I just put my heads into it and got a cleat in the face. But it was worth it; we got the win."

Jaenicke said he needed about 10 stitches in his upper lip.

Boynton said the Trojans need to win the district final Friday in Midland in order to solidify Wednesday's victory over West.

"If we don't win on Friday, it's not going to mean that much and the guys know that," Boynton said. "The goal is to bring home a district trophy and a banner. There aren't a whole lot of boys soccer banners in the gym. That's our goal, to put one up."

The Trojans will play the final against Midland Dow, a team that defeated Central 5-1 earlier this season.

"They embarrassed us," Boynton said. "We scored early, got up 1-0 and then just disappeared. We were tied at halftime and they scored four goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half. We're not going to let that happen again. We just can't."

"They play a couple different formations," Jaenicke said. "It can be difficult to defend them, but we just have to keep up good communication like we did today and I think we'll come out on top. They're a good team, but I think we can take it to them, catch them on their heels and win districts."

Osburn also scored two goals in Central's regular-season win over West, as the two squads split, winning on the other team's field.

"It feels good," Osburn said. "We made history. It was really a team effort. Everybody put their best into it. We played with a lot more heart than West did, I think.

"The defense stuck through and played hard on Jon and Brady and Rico (Rodriguez). Josh (Lance) made some good saves and Luke played really tough against Mitch (Taplin) and Matt (Oxley)."

Wednesday's win was at the Coast Guard field, although it was technically a home game for West. The contest was moved because the scoreboard at West's new field is not yet operational.

"We created opportunities for them with give-aways that led to both goals," Titans coach Jason Carmien said. "But they were able to be very precise in front of the net. We had enough (shots) to score more than one. But I just credit them, really. At this time of year, there's no excuses. They were able to capitalize and create opportunities and score twice in the their only two opportunities of the game.

"They were first to every ball, they were physical and they wanted it. I don't think we were as hungry. When you get down 2-0, you have to do things in a hectic fashion, and that doesn't favor us."

"It's a great win for that group and I hope they win (districts). They've got a great group over there and Rob does a great job."