Published Thursday

May 16, 2002

Enough offense, plenty of defense lifts Spartans to Class A title

BY STEVE BEIDECK

WORLD-HERALD CORRESPONDENT

Clamping down on Omaha Burke's offense allowed Lincoln East to squeeze out the Class A boys state soccer championship.

Sixth-ranked East scored a pair of goals 41 minutes apart Wednesday night and held off top-ranked Burke's attempt at a comeback in the final 15 minutes for a 2-1 victory over the Bulldogs.

The 16-2 Spartans qualified for state as a wild card and became the third consecutive district tournament runner-up to end the season as state champions.

Kris Dotson scored the game-winning goal at 51:46 with a shot from 15 yards in front of the north goal at Bryan Stadium. The senior forward beat a pair Burke defenders and Bulldogs goalkeeper Matt Allen to give his team a 2-0 lead.

"It was a deflection and I was just in the right place at the right time," Dotson said. "I tried not to think about it and just nailed it."

Tournament officials estimated that 2,800 people attended the boys and girls championship matches. Omaha Marian defeated Omaha Westside 3-2 in a shootout for its fifth consecutive girls title before the boys championship match.

This win gave East its third boys state title. The Spartans also won back-to-back titles in 1996 and 1997 with championship match victories over Burke.

East joins Omaha Creighton Prep as the only school to have won more than two state championships. The Junior Jays have won five of the 15 state titles but haven't been to the championship match the past two seasons.

The state championship also was the 12th as a head coach for Jeff Hoham. The Ralston graduate led East to 11 state tennis titles - eight boys and three girls - before taking over the Spartans soccer program this year after serving as an assistant coach the past six seasons.

East opened the scoring at 10:56 when Grant Horejsi scored his fourth goal of the tournament and fifth of the season on a header in front of the Burke goal. Hoham said that allowed his team to apply even more pressure to Burke's offense.

"We wanted to send a message to Burke that we could match their speed," Hoham said. "We matched (Ryan) Samuelson with Brandon Newland and shut him down. That was the key to our attack."

Samuelson had 23 goals entering the tournament but only scored once - in 14-3 Burke's first-round victory last Saturday over Millard South. Bulldogs Coach Michael Bailey acknowledged that East's defense took its toll on his team.

"It turned into a track meet going up and down the field," Bailey said. "We can't do that with anybody. East did a great job defensively maintaining their composure the whole game."

Burke made the final 15 minutes a little tougher on the Spartans with a pretty goal and assist at 64:46. Steven Graner worked the ball down the right sideline and waited until the last possible moment to send the ball in front of the East goal.

That's where John McLaughlin was waiting for the pass. The senior midfielder knocked the ball in with his heel past East goaltender Joel Bergt, turning up the pressure on the Spartans defense.

Hoham brought in players whom he said were more "defense-minded" to help keep Burke away from the goal.

Fifteen minutes later, Dotson and his teammates were state champions.

"I've never had a feeling so great," Dotson said. "We deserve it, we worked so hard this year."

Lincoln East (16-2).........................1 1-2

Omaha Burke (14-4).........................0 1-1

At Omaha Bryan Stadium

Goals-1, LE, Grant Horejsi (Jason Pickerel), 10:45. 2, LE, Kris Dotson (unassisted), 51:46. 3, B, John McLaughlin (Steven Graner), 64:46.Shots on goal-B 11, LE 14.A-2,800 (est.)