News - Sports

Tuesday, May. 13, 2008

Déjà vu all over again

Trojans advance to state title game to face Spring Valley once again

IRMO -- Northwestern won its third straight Class AAAA Upper State championship on Tuesday, and the script was the same as it's been all season.

The Trojans scored their final goal with 18:16 remaining, then let its defense drive the car home with a 2-1 victory.

"It was very physical out there,'' said Northwestern's Shawn Ferguson, a junior midfielder. "They pushed us all night, but we stood up to it and battled. We got physical too, and that's what won the game.''

Although he didn't want to take credit, sophomore Cody Parks, a backup defender, won it for the Trojans with his alert play.

The goal, Parks' seventh of the season, came at the end of a battle between Parks, Irmo goalie Stephen Arneson and Northwestern's Jeremy Dobbins in front of the Yellow Jackets' goal.

Dobbins took a shot that Arneson made an outstanding save on by diving at the ball. It got away from Arneson and Dobbins slid the ball over to Parks, who knocked it in from the right post.

"This was the biggest game I've ever played,'' Parks said. "When I scored, I was focused on the ball. I did what coach tells me -- 'Don't get excited, don't feel the pressure and make a good kick.'''

The victory pushed Northwestern (22-2) into Saturday's state championship game against Spring Valley, which beat Wando 2-0 on Tuesday. The meeting will be the third straight between the Trojans and Vikings.

Northwestern, No. 2 in the state, won 1-0 in 2006. Spring Valley, undefeated and No. 1, won 3-2 last year. When they met in the regular season on April 21 at Northwestern, Spring Valley won 2-1 on penalty kicks.

Irmo, No. 4, ended its season at 20-4.

"I think our kids are so focused right now that it doesn't matter who we play on Saturday,'' Trojans coach Dom Wren said. "They know Spring Valley has a good team, but they know that we are playing well right now.''

Northwestern led 1-0 at the half, but the Yellow Jackets were buzzing when they came back onto the field and started denying the Trojans the ball. Their aggressive defense helped set up the game-tying goal, just shy of five minutes into the second half.

Jugal Dalal sent a corner kick from the left side that cleared the first wave of players lined in front of the goal. The ball passed through toward the right post, where Trent Morgan headed it in.

The Trojans' first goal started out as vintage Northwestern but didn't end that way as the ball settled into the back of the net.

Zack Clark lined up for a corner kick on the right side and perfectly placed the ball to the heart of the box. Two Yellow Jackets -- Arneson and defender Oliver Nobles -- went for the ball and ran together.

It hit Arneson, bounced off Nobles' leg and rolled across the line for an own-goal, putting the Trojans up 1-0 at the 25:27 mark.

Irmo appeared to tie the game with 10:03 left in the opening half. Morgan beat a Northwestern defender on the right side of the Trojans' box and sent a rocket past goalie Ryan Foster into the back-left corner.

An Irmo player away from the shot shoved a Trojans defender.

"I thought that call and the one where the fans thought Irmo didn't score were right,'' Wren said. "I asked my guys about Irmo's goal and was told it crossed the line.

"It was good that the refs made the right calls. Instead of them deciding it, the kids did. Both teams played out of their skin.''

The goal and the no-goal defined the way the first half was played. It was a defensive struggle that started out with Irmo controlling the ball much of the first 20 minutes and Northwestern the second 20.

The checking was hard, with several penalties called and numerous players ending up on the turf. When the half ended, Northwestern had out-shot Irmo only 5-3.