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Alexander Spartans
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SPARTANS SEASON ENDS IN MINFORD
To left are the two departing seniors for the Spartans #7 Drew Payne and #8 Brad Mash.
By Lou Horvath
If facing the number one seed, a faster, bigger foe, missing a key starter, and on the road were not enough, as they got off the bus the Alexander Spartans found out that they would have to wait almost two hours to start their tough task. Due to a Southeast District scheduling problem, the sectional final matchup between the Spartans and the Minford Falcons began almost two hours after the scheduled start time. The officials for the game were at another match and had to finish that game before they could speed their way to Minford.
Speed became the pivotal element once the two sides took the field, also. For the Spartans, unfortunately, a speedy start for the night was not in the cards but the speedy Falcons were.
For the first twenty minutes, the Spartans fought hard to contain the speed of Cody Warren and Evan Price. Warren, the faster of the two, got by defenders twice but was wild with his shots. Then the game changer happened. Alexander senior Drew Payne was called for a foul in the penalty area and given a yellow card. The Spartan fans thought it was a generous home call while the Minford faithful felt it was justified. Nonetheless, Price took advantage of the call and pounded the penalty kick into the back of the web for a 1-0 lead.
“After battling so hard and holding them scoreless, a goal from a penalty kick at that point is hard to overcome,” Alexander coach Tom Fauber said. “We were doing all we could and that score took some of the life out of our effort.”
Indeed, the next eight minutes were a critical change in the tone of the game. Price and Warren were able to run past defenders to each pick up goals and increase the lead to 3-0. This was too big a hole for the comparatively younger Spartans to exit.
The second half started with a score resulting from Warren’s speed. He torched down the left side and banged in his second tally of the night for a 4-0 lead. Ryan Linkous got on the scoreboard on a breakaway five minutes later to increase the difference to 5-0.
Warren completed the hat trick with twenty minutes to go when he used his speed once again to harass the defense and break through.
The Spartans showed grit and avoided the shutout with a pretty combination from Payne and Casey Doudna. Payne sent a free kick toward the goal and Doudna skillfully leg-volleyed the ball into the Falcon strings to end the scoring for the night at 6-1.
“Although the score might not look like it, I thought we played a better overall game than we did the first time. We had a solid effort but it is hard to beat a senior laden team at their place in the tournament. They just had more horses than we did tonight,” Fauber said.
The Spartans will have a lot more letter winners to carry over to 2009 season as the young team gained a lot of playing experience. The loss marked the earliest exit from the tournament in seven years but, according to Fauber, the experience will pay dividends next year.
SCORING:
Alexander 0 1 1
Minford 3 3 6
Minford Price (PK) 1st 20:30 1-0
Minford Price 1st 18:21 2-0
Minford Warren 1st 11:49 3-0
Minford Warren 2nd 35:05 4-0
Minford Linkous 2nd 30:58 5-0
Minford Warren 2nd 20:54 6-0
Alexander Doudna (Payne) 2nd 15:39 6-1
Shots: Minford 15
Alexander 3
Saves: Minford Jordan 1
Alexander Doughty 5
Jordan 1 non-goalie save
SPARTANS ADVANCE TO SECTIONAL FINAL
To left Alexander freshmen #1 Wyatt Andrews battles for the ball as #5 Derek Brothers looks on.
By KEVIN WISEMAN
Messenger sports editor
ALBANY — Thanks to a high-scoring, balanced attack, the Alexander Spartans will live to play another day.
Four players found the back of the net in a 5-2 victory for the Spartans over Belpre. The game was a first-round Division III boys soccer sectional tournament contest at Alexander High School.
Leading the way for Alexander was senior Drew Payne. He made his final home game memorable as he scored two goals to help the Spartans advance.
"He's had some of those key goals in his past," Alexander head coach Tom Fauber said. "He's probably our most polished player. He carries the ball well, he's a good dribbler and he's probably our best shooter. I think that comes partially because of senior experience. He's done a nice job of that."
The Spartans will look for an eighth-consecutive sectional title on Wednesday when they travel to Minford to take on the No. 1 seed.
The No. 4 seed Spartans (4-11-2) owned a 2-1 win over No. 5 seed Belpre (4-11-2) earlier in the season. The Spartans didn't waste any time showing the Golden Eagles that an upset wasn't happening on Monday, scoring four first-half goals.
Brennen Jordan kicked off the Alexander scoring spree less than nine minutes into the game. He got a nice pass from Caleb Wilson and booted the ball in from 15 yards away putting Alexander up 1-0.
"One of the things I was fearful of was that they would take Belpre lightly," Fauber said. "We beat them earlier in the year, and sometimes they have that tendency (to think), 'Oh we beat them, so this is not a problem.' Early on I thought we were moving the ball fairly well."
Eight minutes after Jordan's goal, Payne collected his first goal of the night on a breakaway. His clutch shot put Belpre in a 2-0 deficit at the 23:29 mark.
Casey Doudna got into the act less than six minutes later with a goal. Casey Meredith picked up an assist on the play, as Doudna put Alexander up 3-0 with 17:44 left in the first half.
Wilson got back in the act, as he scored his first goal of the season 6:16 before halftime. Belpre goal keeper Will Fankhauser aggressively went after the ball but was unable to come up with it. With Fanhauser down, Wilson got a foot on the ball for the goal. The four first-half goals from four different players came in a 25:08 period.
"He found that ball, that's the kind of thing several of our guys have to be," Fauber said of Wilson's tally. "They have to sniff for those goals, those scraps and find that ball that's lose and put it away."
The goals didn't come as fast and furious in the second half for the Spartans, but Payne made sure Alexander wasn't shut out for the half. Fankhauser again came out from his goal but was unable to secure the ball. Payne took advantage of the open net for his second goal and a 5-0 Spartans lead.
Alexander goal keeper Ben Doughty and the rest of the defense kept the Golden Eagles scoreless until the 12:24 mark of the second half. Seung Hyun Chu was able to collect a rebound in front of the goal and kick it in for Belpre's first marker. The Golden Eagles struck again just 52 seconds later when Steven Crislip emerged from a group of players in front of the net with a goal.
While the lead was still secure, Fauber was unhappy with the back-to-back goals allowed.
"I thought second half (Belpre) did a nice job of coming at us," Fauber said. "We started off the half trying to do a little twist getting ready for Minford. We thought we were in control there, and we started to rotate some players in and some of the older, experienced players started backing off and it gave them some good opportunities late in the game obviously to come back and get some goals."
Alexander also lost a player on Monday as junior Jake Pyle went down with a knee injury. He collided with Fankhauser in front of the goal in the first half and is out for Wednesday's game.
"We lost another player tonight, a starter," Fauber said. "Somebody's got to fill that roll."
The Spartans have a tough test in front of them if they want to win yet another sectional crown in Division III as Minford defeated the Spartans 4-0 earlier in the season. Fauber noted his 2002 team that upset a No. 1 Minford team in the sectional finals. Alexander went all the way to the regional semifinals that season.
"They're a big group of seniors," he said. "They're physical, athletic. They have some good skill players. It will be a big challenge. I'm hoping that we can maybe reenact some soccer from about 2002 when we were able to sneak down to Minford. We weren't the No. 1 seed, they were and we walked in, snuck out with a 2-1 victory. That will be a big battle to do that. Hopefully they'll step up to that challenge."
The challenge gets underway at 7 p.m. with a berth to the district tournament on the line.
SPARTANS WILL FACE REBUILDING SEASON
By Lou Horvath
Alexander soccer head coach Tom Fauber faces a rebuilding task coming off a season where his Spartans narrowly missed a district title and he garnered coach of the year honors. With only four returning lettermen, one might assume that the future looks bleak for the Red and Black. But don’t count out the strength of tradition the Spartans carry into the season. Historically Alexander’s strongest boys program, Fauber’s teams always gather steam as the year progresses and in the hunt when tournament time comes around.
“We will be inexperienced to say the least, just like any team that loses eleven seniors including two who moved on to college level soccer. But we have a strong nucleus returning that was instrumental in our success last year.”
Alexander does indeed have four returnees who fit into each critical position on the pitch. Preston Brooks was exceptional in the defense as a freshman and will be the anchor for the young Spartan defenders. In the midfield, junior Brennan Jordan has been a fixture since his freshman year and controls the middle as well as anyone in the district. In addition, he can also be a threat in the offensive third.
Up top, the two remaining letterman might give a hockey-like flavor to the Spartans’ games. Drew Payne, a member of the state champion Athens County hockey squad, is one of only two seniors on the Alexander roster. Payne is primed to build on a breakout 2007 campaign when he became a scoring threat. A summer of club soccer has honed his skills and he will be a dangerous quantity for opposing defenses. But concentrating on Payne won’t provide any relief. Playing the game like the fourth Hanson brother, Casey Doudna careened his way to a number of goals as a sophomore. He has refined his touch, which will make him even more trouble in the offensive zone. “Casey won’t be denied the ball and likes to go to the net strong,” Fauber says. “Drew presents problems with his quickness and slashing ability so the two of them will challenge defenses in different ways.”
Filling in the rest of the picture will be the question and the task handed to the youngsters coming up from JV. The basketball to soccer goaltender pipeline will once again work in Albany but this time Fauber has the luxury of having a keeper for more than just a senior season. Ben Doughty has been in the strings as a freshman and was impressive in spot varsity duty last year. Also a sophomore, Jack Hart will back up Doughty in the net in addition to seeing time as a field defender. “We have two tall options in goal and for a change it’s a treat to have a keeper for four years.”
Assistant coach, Joshua Collins ran the JV program last year and he will help Fauber assess what spots will be best filled. “To be honest, it will look like the Oklahoma Land Rush regarding the open positions. We have essentially six starting slots wide open and the pre-season scrimmages will determine who wants them most and what works best,” the cerebral Collins commented.
Coming up to the challenge offensively will be Josiah Yazdani who has excellent foot skills, Caleb Wilson, and Brad Mash, the only other Spartan senior. Novice midfielders and defenders will include Brian Sparks, Trett Foster, Jake Pyle, Casey Meredith, Derek Brothers, Hart, Ethan Sayers, Morgan Spaulding, and Nate Smith. All have seen varying but limited minutes of varsity time.
Fauber will also add a number of young players to the Spartan side and they could well find themselves earning significant time. Wyatt Andrews, Kyle Ferguson, Cameron Jeffers, Jeremy Mendenhall, Alex Riley, and Brian Rosser have been quickly learning the ropes of high school level soccer.
Answers will be needed soon as the season kicks off on the artificial turf of Jackson Tuesday August 19 with the home opener two days later against Granville Christian Academy. As always, Alexander sets a tough schedule to prepare for the rigors of tournament time. Besides the traditional tests with Zane Trace, South Webster, Minford, Warren, and Unioto, the Spartans will be taking on Amanda Clearcreek, central Ohio power Bloom Carroll, Piketon, Belpre, and St Clairsville. The home and home rivalry with the Athens Bulldogs is a series that brings in the crowds at both venues. With the Challenge Cup on the line and still resting in Albany, the dates for those matches are in bold print on both sides’ calendars.
SPARTAN DUO SIGN WITH RIO GRANDE
By Lou Horvath
The pipeline from Alexander High School soccer to the pitches of the collegiate level just keeps flowing. Matt Martin and Elijah Yazdani have signed letters of intent to play soccer at the University of Rio Grande. The duo were instrumental in the Spartans’ success in the regular and post season.
According to Redman head coach Scott Morrissey “we’re very pleased to sign both these young men. We’ve been familiar with Matt (Martin) over the years since he’s been on our club team and at our camps. So we’ve had our eye on him for a while. We first noticed Elijah at our team camp in July and were impressed with his technical skills. Both of them have a big upside and have come from a very solid high school program. They will be part of a good recruiting class for Rio Grande.”
Martin was the stalwart of a stingy Alexander defense using his skill and speed to shut down the opponents’ offensive threats. He was also called on to play in the middle and up top during his tenure with the Spartans.
Yazdani was one of the most feared offensive threats in the area. He may have had the best foot skills in recent memory but also was a dangerous assist man with his ability to see passing lanes.
Rio Grande was the NAIA national champion in 2003 and, more recently, was in the sweet sixteen last season and the final eight the prior year. “I feel extremely honored and privileged to sign with this team,” Martin commented. “I’ve attended Coach Morrissey’s camps for a long time and really didn’t see this offer coming from such a prestigious program. I’ve worked hard and am pleased the coaches wanted me to come here.”
Yazdani said that he has been impressed by the Redmen coaches, their soccer history, and is “looking forward to playing there and working hard to make the team. I feel blessed to be given this opportunity.”
A perennial power in Southeastern Ohio, the Alexander program has sent a number of players on to the college game. Spartan coach Tom Fauber was pleased that two more of his charges signed letters of intent to move on. “It’s satisfying when our players get recognized and go up to the next level. It shows all our kids that they can get offers to play college soccer with hard work and commitment.”
The Redmen are members of the American Mideast Conference and are the defending NAIA Region IX champions.
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