Omaha World Herald 5/6/05
A-4 at Papillion-La Vista
Lincoln East scored three times in the second half Friday for a
3-1 victory over top-ranked Omaha Creighton Prep at the new Papillion-La Vista
Stadium.
It was the third straight year that the No. 3 Spartans (12-2)
defeated Prep (14-3) in a district final. Prep, though, won the 2003 Class A
title by defeating the Spartans in the state final.
Prep will go to state as one of Class A's two wild-card teams. The
other appears to be Lincoln Southeast, a 1-0 loser to Omaha Burke in the
District A-3 final.
Prep took its 1-0 lead on a 30-yard direct kick by Creighton
recruit Byron Dacy. East responded after halftime with a changed strategy,
coach Jeff Hoham said.
"We spread the field," he said. "We probably increased
our scoring chances by 75 percent. All three of the assists were by outside
midfielders, which tells you something.
"We wore down Prep, I thought. As talented as they are with
their pair of D-I recruits (Dacy and Mike Stillmock, also headed to CU),
fatigue is still fatigue. I thought our depth overall made a difference."
East's goals were by Dan Popp and the Dingledine brothers, Pat and
A.J.
Lincoln East (12-2).........................0 3-3
Omaha Creighton Prep (12-3).........................1 0-1
€ Goals: CP, Dacy. LE, Popp, P. Dingledine, A.J. Dingledine.
BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
PAPILLION ‹ Much like construction on the new stadium at
Papillion-La Vista South High School, the job for the Lincoln East boys soccer
team is far from complete.
Yes, the Spartans beat top-ranked Omaha Creighton Prep 3-1 in the
first meeting this season between these traditional powers.
Yes, the victory in Friday's District A-4 championship gives
third-ranked East (12-2) the No. 1 seed in next week's state tournament.
That doesn't mean a lot, though, when you know chances are good
you'll face Prep again. The Junior Jays (14-3) advance to state with a wild
card.
"I'm pretty confident we're going to see this team again next
week," East senior Pat Dingledine said. "There's a lot of work to be
done."
It started after halftime Friday.
"I don't know if you overheard me right before the second
half," East coach Jeff Hoham said. "All I kept saying was, ŒOutwork
them, outwork them, outwork them.' That was really the mantra of that second
half."
The work theme seemed appropriate, given the surroundings of the
match. Needing to dodge cement trucks, steam rollers and portable toilets just
to enter the not-yet-completed stadium, the Spartans put on their own hard hats
in the second half.
Down 1-0 at halftime, East scored two quick goals within roughly
the first 15 minutes of the second half, then added another with somewhere
around 15 minutes remaining.
Dingledine played a part in two of the goals. He headed in a
beautiful crossing pass from Quin Kilgore to give East a 2-1 lead, then gave a
short pass to his younger brother, Anthony Dingledine, who drilled a shot from
about 15 yards, past the outstretched Prep keeper.
"We just came out and kept telling each other that if we kept
working hard, good things were going to happen," Pat Dingledine said.
"One or two touch passes was what was going to do it for us."
Prep scored about 10 minutes into the match when Byron Dacy perfectly
lofted a free kick over a wall of East players and the East keeper and into the
left side of the net. The kick came from about 30 yards.
The scored stayed 1-0 until Daniel Popp scored on a pass from
Jacob Rocke, opening the flood gates for East, which played with the wind in
the second half.
"It was a matter of us executing better what we wanted to do,
which was to spread the field," Hoham said. "Once we recognized that
we had the ability to get the ball to the feet of our outside mids, we were able
to stretch their defense.
"But our main objective was to wear them down."