Published Wednesday | April 18, 2007

Prep soccer: Spartans top rival Knights

BY STU POSPISIL

WORLD-HERALD

STAFF WRITER

LINCOLN - As if Lincoln East needed extra motivation to play Lincoln Southeast, Tuesday night's match was the first for the Spartans after the end of their state-record 31-match winning streak in boys soccer.

They scored twice in the first 20 minutes and held the previously unbeaten Knights to three shots on goal in a 2-1 victory at the Abbott Soccer Complex. East's girls began the sweep of Southeast with a 1-0 victory on junior midfielder Deanne Schmidt's second-half goal.

Boys No. 2 East (9-1) was coming off a 2-1 loss to Millard South in Saturday's final at the Papillion-La Vista Invitational.

"You keep it in perspective," East coach Jeff Hoham said. "The streak ran over three seasons. Some of our guys now don't even know how it started.

"It was more about not losing two in a row. When you're playing one of the last two unbeatens in the state, you don't need to say, 'Gee, guys, let's start another winning streak.'"

A.J. Dingledine scored his 13th goal of the season six minutes into the match, and Erik Cederdahl got his first about 11 minutes later.

"Southeast's strength comes from their counterattack," Hoham said. "Instead of sitting back, we attacked and stretched the field. I thought we played a solid 80 minutes."

Southeast's only goal was an own goal on a header off an East player with eight minutes left in the first half. The Knights' final chance to score, off a free kick in the final minute, ended with a shot over the crossbar.

"We need to play the whole game with the intensity we had the last 10 minutes of each half," Southeast coach Linda Wilson said.

East boys rebound after 31-game winning streak ends

BY BRENT C. WAGNER / Lincoln Journal Star

Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007 - 12:58:08 am CDT

Anthony Reichwaldt says heπs not aware of any of his Lincoln East teammates who cried themselves to sleep after the Spartansπ state record 31-game winning streak ended on Saturday with a loss to Millard South.

Oh, sure, the Spartans goalkeeper said the loss was tough. Heck, many of the guys had never lost a varsity game.

Fear not, though, the wheels havenπt completely fallen off for East. The Spartans started another streak Tuesday with a 2-1 victory that ended No. 7 Lincoln Southeastπs unbeaten season.

East took control with goals by A.J. Dingledine and Brandon Videtich in the opening 20 minutes before about 1,000 fans at the Abbott Sports Complex championship field. Southeastπs score was an own goal.

≥I knew weπd come back after the loss,≤ Reichwaldt said. ≥East has always had a good program. Teams lose, and itπs hard to go two years in a row undefeated. By the next day, we forgot about it.≤

Tuesdayπs game likely decided the city champion. Also, Southeast was one of only two remaining Class A unbeaten teams.

≥Winning against Southeast is always a little better than winning against another team,≤ Reichwaldt said.

East (9-1) dominated possession early, and out shot Southeast 17-2. The Spartans fought off a deflection, corner kick and free kick in the final seven minutes.

≥I was pretty darn happy,≤ East coach Jeff Hoham said. ≥We came out the first 15 minutes and wanted to be as aggressive as we could with full field pressure. We scored three goals — unfortunately one of them was on our own.≤

Dingledine scored 10 minutes into the game when he headed a ball into the corner of the net off Taylor Stacyπs free kick.

About seven minutes later, Videtich out sprinted the defense and scored from about 15 yards out. It was Dingledineπs 13th, and Videtichπs first goal of the season.

≥I just think these kids didnπt want to lose two games in a row,≤ Hoham said. ≥Regardless of the streak, or not.≤