Never say never again

SPRING HILL - Amid the freezing 39-degree temperatures Monday night at Booster Stadium, the Central Bears boys' soccer team did something none of its previous squads had ever achieved - it solved Springstead High at Springstead.

But first it had to overcome some demons of yester year.

Despite out shooting Springstead in the first half, 10-3, the Bears (9-4-1 overall, 5-0-0 county) trailed at the intermission, 1-0.

With less than a minute to play in the opening stanza, the county's assist leader, senior Josh Magrini, added to his total. Magrini's long through ball found streaking freshman Tyler Callaghan along the left side.

Ex-Springstead goalkeeper, Kyle Beach, who started between the pipes for the fourth time in a Navy and Silver uniform, came off his line to cut down the angle of the shot.

But Callaghan ripped a 14-yard left-footed diagonal beauty that Beach had no chance on and that was tucked just inside the far post, 1-0 Eagles.

Unfortunately, for the home fans, Magrini's ninth assist leading to Callaghan's second goal was the highlight reel.

Meanwhile, the Bears deposited three second-half goals -- including two inside the first six minutes -- to walk away with the school's first-ever win in Booster Stadium, 3-1.

CHS senior forward Will Anderson keyed the come-from-behind win behind his county-leading 12th goal three minutes into the second half on a header past Eagle freshman goalkeeper Joey LaSala.

Three minutes later, Springstead lost its composure as Central's Nick Hernandez was tackled inside the scoring box giving the Bears an automatic penalty kick.

Here, the 6-foot-8 Beach shed his keeper gloves for a crack at the ensuing PK.

Beach, who specialized in PKs in his three-plus seasons with the Eagles before relocating to Central's zone two weeks ago, buried the shot top shelf, 2-1.

Springstead never seemed to recover from Beach's first-ever CHS goal.

The host Eagles managed one shot on goal in the second half.

Meanwhile, with 10 minutes remaining in the match, Anderson's corner kick found Christian Velasquez, who flicked home the header to ice the proceedings, 3-1.

Completing the sweep

The win was substantial in so many ways.

First and foremost, the win meant a seasonal sweep of the archrival Eagles. On Nov. 8 at the Bears' Den, Central squeaked by 3-2. Monday night's return match victory completed the Bears' first series sweep over their archrivals in 18 years.

Secondly, CHS earned its fifth county championship since its inception in 1990-91.

Since that time, the Bears have collected three undisputed crowns: in 1998-99 under John Andruss, in 2004-05 under Jerry Bon and this winter with Head Coach Hank Deslaurier.

Anderson commented on the Bears' history-making performance.

"It's nice to make history," smiled the 18-year-old Anderson, who tallied six goals and added seven assists last winter. "And any time you beat a Springstead team, it's a good feeling, especially sweeping them."

How's the team playing?

"We're playing much better than we were," replied Anderson, who paces the county with 29 points. "We didn't play real well in the first half, but once we get it together we're hard to stop."

What about the defensive effort?

"Our defense always comes to play," said Anderson. "(Darrin) Foreman is stepping up. We've got a good team in the back. It's great to have a good attack when your defense is backing you up."

Deslaurier, the school's sixth mentor since 1990-91, added, "We've given up some soft goals before. When we relax, like we did in the second half, we're a pretty strong team.

"Tonight, the key was settling down," admitted Deslaurier. "We had some great shots, great looks. And Springstead had a gutsy performance, it just wasn't enough."

What was the key?

"Defensively, we're solid back there," responded Deslaurier. "Weaver, Foreman, Bock did a great job. We needed this."

Other side

With the loss, rebuilding Springstead dipped to 7-4-4 overall and 3-2-1 in county action.

Veteran SHS Head Coach Sal Calabrese, whose teams have captured seven of the past eight county titles before this season, was disappointed with the final score but was encouraged with what he saw.

"We were up at half on a beautiful goal," he recalled. "And we told the boys that the first 10 minutes of the second half are always critical. And look what happened? They score twice and then the momentum shifted."

Positives?

"We strung some passes together in the first half," said Calabrese, who is 169-108-33 lifetime in Spring Hill. "I told the boys to remember the two things we always stress, to communicate and possess the ball. We're starting to come around. Overall, this team is young. When we do both, we'll be okay."