Scotus boys unselfish in victory

COLUMBUS - In the game of soccer, if a team works the ball around from player to player, it will likely find an open shot.

The Class B No. 7 Scotus Central Catholic boys soccer team used patience and ball movement for a 3-0 win over Council Bluffs St. Albert Thursday at Wilderness Park.

Shamrock coach Jon Brezenski said he has been stressing maintaining possession heading into the game with the Falcons. The extra work paid off for the Shamrocks in an 18-3 shot advantage.

“I think we played a good game because we controlled the possessions,” Brezenski said. “We've been working on that a little bit just to maintain the possessions and working it down the side and to the middle. We were starting to see what we have worked on in practice carry over into the games.”

Scotus worked the ball to the middle of the field which set up goal No. 1. Danny Johnson received a pass from Kip Kudron in the 11th minute, and the shot bounced off the hands of St. Albert' goalkeeper Cameron Tucker.

The next goal in the 27nd minute when Chris Herdzina made a quick cross pass to the middle of the field, and Jared Ostdiek got to the ball and scored it from there.

Bill Kurtenbach put the finishing touches when he received a double-assist from Johnson and Jacob Starosick in the 72nd minute at the ball bounced off Tucker's hands into the box.

The best chance for St. Albert to get a goal was Jacob Dew had a clear shot, but Shamrock goalie Chase Beiermann made the save in the 67th minute.

Tucker finished with 10 saves, including several diving stops to prevent Scotus from scoring more goals.

“That kid made some athletic stops that I thought were goals. I like the fact that we taking shots like that because that puts pressure on the goalie to make those kind of saves,” Brezenski said. “We stress taking shots because you can't score if you don't. I always stress the kids to take risks even if the ball doesn't go through the goal.”

The Shamrocks have a few days off before getting ready for a big week. They play host to 11-2 Grand Island Northwest at 4:30 p.m. on Monday in a key district game and then travel to play No. 6 Schuyler the following day.

“We're taking it one day at a time for us to get better,” Brezenski said. “I think we have played some good soccer the past 10 days. Our kids are starting to come around and are gaining a lot of confidence from the games. That's important that we have that with the games we have coming up.”

St. Albert (3-2) 0 0 - 0

Scotus (6-4) 2 1 - 3

n Goals-St. Albert: None; Scotus: Danny Johnson, Jared Ostdiek, Bill Kurtenbach.

n Assists-St. Albert: None; Scotus: Kip Kudron, Chris Herdzina, Danny Johnson and Jacob Staroscik.

n Shots on goal-St. Albert: 3, Scotus: 18.

n Saves-St. Albert: Cameron Tucker 10, Scotus: Chase Beiermann 3.