By Steve Lathrop, Albany Democrat-Herald
| Posted: Thursday, November 16, 2006 12:00 am
In a battle of Eagles, visiting Catlin Gabel flew just a bit higher Tuesday night in the semifinals of the state Class 3A boys soccer playoffs against Santiam Christian at Corvallis High.
Catlin Gabel, a longtime state power, used solid defense and a couple of Santiam Christian mistakes to advance to Saturday's state title match with a 3-0 win.
"There were two evenly-matched teams out there," Santiam Christian coach David Harvey. "We made some mistakes we haven't made all season and it cost us."
The most costly error came in the opening half when Catlin Gabel's Ian Davies slipped behind the defense on a free kick from Alex Wu from beyond midfield.
Davies found himself alone in a race for the ball with goalie Edward Henricks; Davies won and just nudged it over Henricks' head for the first score at 18 minutes.
It was typical of Catlin Gabel's attack, which kept Santiam Christian on the defensive much of the game. When SC penetrated, a defender usually spoiled the attack with a deep kick back into Santiam Christian territory.
Santiam Christian did mount a scoring threat with just under 14 minutes to go in the half. Grant Knowles' throw-in went deep into the Catlin Gabel box, where Curtis Burwell's header and Mark Huff's rebound shot were turned away.
"There were some good shots in the second half but we just couldn't finish," Harvey said.
Santiam Christian's offense picked up after the intermission with Huff's header getting knocked away early. Catlin Gabel turned the miss into a goal in the 48th minute when Davies passed to Evan Matsuda on a two-on-one attack that Matsuda finished.
SC regrouped quickly with Dario Seipold's shot going just wide only seconds after the score. Two shots on goal by Burwell were turned away and later Jacob Blakely drilled a shot that went wide right.
Catlin Gabel closed the door for good with only three minutes remaining. Brian Runtz' shot was blocked on a great diving save by Henricks but the deflected ball went right to Evan Caplan, whose shot caromed into the open net off a defender trying to turn it away.
Catlin Gabel advances to play either Oregon Episcopal School or St. Mary's on Saturday for the title.
For Harvey's Eagles the match marked the end of a positive season.
"We lost a lot of people from a year ago and to get this far is something we didn't necessarily expect," said Harvey, whose seniors have played in three state semifinal games in four years. "It's hard to get this far and these boys showed very well. I'm very proud of them."
Catlin Gabel 3, Santiam Christian 0
First Half
Catlin Gabel - 17:42 - Ian Davies from Alex Wu.
Second Half
Catlin Gabel - 47:40 - Evan Matsuda from Ian Davies
Catlin Gabel - 76:46 - Evan Caplan unassisted.