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Photo by: DAVID KADLUBOWSKI |
Originally
Published:
Despite playing what Tigers'
coach Bob Bauman called ``the worst game of the year,'' Jesuit (30-2) still
managed to claim its sixth state title with a 1-0 victory Saturday against
Riviera Beach Suncoast (15-6-2) in the Class 2A championship game at Pepin/Rood
Stadium. The sixth overall title, and fifth in the last seven years, ties
Jesuit with Miami Killian for the second most championships in state history,
behind only Clearwater Central Catholic's eight.
And with the Tigers not up
to their standards, it only seemed fitting that the winning goal was not even
officially scored by Jesuit, as John Kluft's cross in the 77th minute bounced
off Suncoast defender Jason Johns and trickled past goalkeeper Daniel
Eggertsson.
``We played what is actually
our worst game probably ever, so we feel so relieved to win,'' said Kluft,
Jesuit's leading scorer this season who missed a handful of scoring
opportunities. ``Our touch was off the whole game, especially me. For some
reason every time I would touch the ball I felt nervous and timid and I know if
I would have kept my poise I would have buried a couple of those chances any
other time.''
But don't think Jesuit will
take back the one goal it scored, regardless of how it went into the net.
The Tigers were forced to
play a man down after senior defender Tom Svetitz was ejected on a
controversial red card call in the 21st minute. Svetitz was whistled for a
retaliation foul. Taking Svetitz off the field forced Jesuit to shift Scott
Golden, who started out at forward, back to defense, taking away some of
Jesuit's attack.
Jesuit still maintained most
of the possession and had the better opportunities throughout the game,
outshooting Suncoast 18-8 for the game, but as the game went on, the advantage
continued to shift to the Chargers. As Jesuit continued to miss chance after
chance, the momentum started to slide to the underdogs.
``In soccer, the saying is
that 30 percent of the time the better team doesn't win and I started to
question if this was going to be our 30 percent,'' Bauman said. ``With a lot of
our chances we were making the goalkeeper look good and you start to worry a
little bit.''
But Jesuit's senior
leadership, a group of players who have played in three state championship
games in three years, kept the Tigers' hopes of a mythical national
championship alive. Jesuit entered the state tournament as the No. 2 team in
the nation according to Student Sports, and could move up as the top-ranked
team - Klein, Texas - still has a month left in its season.
``Despite how poorly we
played overall, I think it is still a testament to this team to be able to
battle a man down like we did,'' Kluft said.
``We have guys that are used
to handling this kind of pressure and though we may have looked slow at times,
I think we were just kind of pacing ourselves because you can't go as hard on a
field when you are down a man,'' Bauman said.