HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER ROUNDUP : Saints Win on Albers’ OT Goal

It was 10 minutes into overtime of another scoreless soccer game when St. Augustine’s Matt Tessier sent a long throw-in some five yards off the near post.

Perfect positioning: It was barely far enough from the goal to make Crawford goalie Brian Gaske hesitate a moment wondering if he should leave his line to corral the ball.

Gaske did go after it, except he got there a split second too late. St. Augustine’s Peter Albers was already in position waiting for the pass, and when he and Gaske went up to joust for the ball, Gaske lost.

So did Crawford, 1-0.

Gaske fell to the ground, and Albers, who kept his balance, was able to tuck the loose ball inside the post to give St. Augustine a berth in the Section Division III championship game March 7 at a site to be determined.

The key to the play wasn’t that Albers was able to keep Gaske from controlling the ball, but rather that he got away with a little shove to Gaske that caused the goalie to fall.

“Hey, we were just fighting for the ball,” Albers said. “I saw him going up for it and I thought I’d challenge him. I was just lucky enough to jar the ball loose.”

From Tessier’s view on the sideline, the victory was a foregone conclusion when Albers and Gaske jumped for the ball.

“When Peter went up with the goalie,” Tessier said, “I said, ‘Yes, here it is, baby.’ I knew we would pump it in sooner or later.”

No. 3-seeded St. Augustine (17-1-2), which shut out University City, 2-0, in the quarterfinals, has not allowed a goal in 170 minutes of playoff action.

Crawford, which came in with the second seed because it was the City Central League champion, finished at 12-6-2.