By Brian Plasters for the Springfield News Sun

Catholic Central was able to overcome one deficit against the top team in the state. Summit Country Day made sure there wasn’t a second comeback.

With the game tied at 2-2, Summit took the lead on a re-directed throw-in with 12 minutes left to beat Central 3-2 in a boys soccer match Saturday afternoon at Hallinean Field.

The Irish rallied to tie the game at 2-2 in the second half, but were able to get only one shot on goal in the final 20 minutes of play.

Summit and Central were Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the first state coaches’ Division III poll.

After beating the Irish (4-1) on Saturday, the Knights have Central coach Shane Latham’s endorsement as the top team.

“I’d be very surprised if there was anybody better than Summit in the state,” he said.

SCD is 3-2-1 after beating the Irish, but the two losses were against larger Pennsylvania schools. Summit coach Scott Cagle expected a tough match.

“Because we play each other every year now I knew what guys they had coming back, and I knew they would be very strong this year,” he said. “I don’t know, maybe (the ranking’s) justifiable, but it’s still too early.”

Summit dominated the first half by scoring goals at the 17:10 mark and again with 10:02 left in the half. The more aggressive Knights were also whistled for 13 fouls and controlled the tempo.

Central ended the shutout when Jordan Halloran forced a turnover deep in the Knights’ territory, tracked down the loose ball and scored with 30 minutes left in the game.

The goal invigorated the Irish, bringing the home crowd back to life. Ten minutes later, Central’s Alex Pillion scored on an assist from Stefan Latham.

The Irish defense limited the Knights to one goal during open play, but broke down on the two Summit goals scored on set plays.

“They simply got beat to the ball on both goals,” Latham said. “It’s a man-to-man system, and they got beat by their man, it’s as simple as that. Nothing very elaborate, they just didn’t go to the ball hard.”

After Summit took the lead, the Irish’s attack couldn’t crack the staunch Knights defense.

“We had to gamble a lot and pushed more players up, play a different formation, so we were very susceptible to counter-attack,” Latham said. “Having said that, it was still a very even game until they scored that goal. Obviously it was difficult to come back a second time.”

Nevertheless, Latham said the Irish will grow and learn with the experience.

“This is the fifth game of the season. It’s not a league game, it’s not a tournament game,” Latham said. “Hopefully we’ll get a chance to play them again, and if we do it’ll be in the regional tournament with a chance to go to state.”

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