Deacons playing for the bronze

By news@inforum.com

October 12, 2007 at 11:00 PM

MANDAN, N.D. - Fargo Shanley goalkeeper Pat Thomas had never been part of a shootout.

The Shanley senior looked like a pro when put in that situation Friday at Dacotah Centennial Park in Mandan. Thomas made back-to-back stops in the shootout to spark the Deacons to a 1-0 shootout victory against Fargo South in pool play at the North Dakota state boys soccer tournament.

Shanley, which beat Jamestown 4-0 earlier in the day, earned a spot in the third-place match with its victory against the Bruins.

"It means a ton," said Thomas, who had nine total saves in his two Friday shutouts. "We've never placed in state ever. ... I hope it can really build up the program."

Shanley will play Fargo North at 1 p.m. today for third place. The Spartans scored a 2-1 shutout victory against Minot and clinched a spot in the third-place match with a 3-2 victory against Grand Forks Red River. Bismarck Century and Bismarck play for the championship at 3 p.m.

"I'm very satisfied with the way things played out for us," said North senior Zach Wehri, who scored the game-winning goal against Red River. "Our tournament didn't start out that great, but in these last two games we played hard."

South will play Red River at 1 p.m. for fifth place. The Bruins didn't allow a goal in three games in pool play, but lost two 1-0 shootouts Friday. South hit a post in their loss against Century and a crossbar in the loss against Shanley.

"It was like we were born under a black star or something," South coach Dean Hashbarger said. "We had our chances. I know the kids are disappointed. We're a good team and right now they are thinking that they aren't that good."

After 80 minutes of regulation play and two 10-minute overtimes, Shanley and South went to a shootout. Both the Deacons and Bruins had their first two shooters score.

That is when Thomas took over. He made two straight diving saves.

"He reads the game so well," Shanley coach Michael Breker said of Thomas. "He guessed on those two and he guessed right."

Senior Thomas Jordan, Shanley's fourth shooter, clinched the victory. Jordan found the back of the net, setting off a spirited celebration. The Deacons won the shooutout 4-2.

"I usually don't get nervous playing but I was freaking out a little bit," Thomas said.

In North's win against Minot, it came down to the final shooter. Wehri fired a shot to his left that banked in off the left post for the victory.

"I just knew I was going to go to that side," Wehri said. "I got pretty lucky hitting the post."

Wehri capped his day with the game-winner against Red River. Wehri settled a long pass from Pat Reberg with his knee just off the side of the penalty box before zipping a shot into the back of the net. That gave the Spartans a 3-2 lead with 9 minutes, 24 seconds remaining.

"He stepped up his game this tournament, absolutely," North coach Casey Tidd said. "If we can't play in the championship, the next best thing is third place."

South, which shut out Jamestown on Thursday, didn't allow a goal in 280 minutes of play.

"We didn't give up a goal in three games and we are going to walk out of here playing for fifth," Hashbarger said. "It's disappointing, but I don't know how else you can decide it."

Pool B

Fargo Shanley 1, Fargo South 0 (shootout)

FIRST HALF: No scoring.

SECOND HALF: No scoring.

FIRST OVERTIME: No scoring.

SECOND OVERTIME: No scoring.

SHOUTOUT: South 2 (Soe, Richter), Shanley 4 (D. Glogoza, S. Dancer, Wolff, T. Jordan).

SAVES: SH, Thomas 6. FS, Crawford 6.

Bismarck Century 4, Jamestown 1

FIRST HALF: 1, BC, Paulus 2:22. 2, BC, Pomonis 6:00. 3, BC, Wangler (Carvell) 31:01.

SECOND HALF: 4, JHS, Paiement (Perleberg) 25:54. 5, BC, Anderson 35:53.

SAVES: JHS. Boerger 9. BC, Frenzel 8.

Bismarck Century 1, Fargo South 0 (shootout)

FIRST HALF: No scoring.

SECOND HALF: No scoring.

FIRST OVERTIME: No scoring.

SECOND OVERTIME: No scoring.

SHOOTOUT: Century 4 (Paulson, Paulus, Gendreau, Neameyer), South 2 (Richter, Pekmic).

SAVES: BC, Frenzel 13. FS, Silbernagel 8.

Fargo Shanley 4, Jamestown 0

FIRST HALF: 1, SH, M. Glogoza (M. Fowler) 3:46. 2, SH, M. Glogoza (D. Glogoza) 10:51. 3, SH, S. Dancer (D. Glogoza) 21:44. 4, SH, Stallman (Wolff) 32:29.

SECOND HALF: No scoring.

SAVES: JHS, Borger 8. SH, Thomas 3.

Pool A

Fargo North 3, Grand Forks Red River 2

FIRST HALF: 1, FN, Rydell (Solberg) 31:14.

SECOND HALF: 2, RR, Popic 4:52. 3, FN, James (Lapka) 21:55. 4, RR, Woods (Muhammad) 22:17. 5, FN, Z. Wehri (Reberg) 30:36.

SAVES: FN, Nelson 1. RR, Slominski 12.

Bismarck 1, Minot 0

FIRST HALF: Ulness (Bry, Hovland) 8:15.

SECOND HALF: No scoring.

SAVES: MHS, Tarasenko 4, Podrygula 2. BHS, Kelley 4, Ulness 1.

Fargo North 2, Minot 1 (shootout)