SHG soccer shuts out JHS, 4-0

SPRINGFIELD — The Crimsons got Bloinked Tuesday night, 4-0.

The always anticipated resumption of Jacksonville’s and Sacred Heart-Griffin’s Central State Eight soccer rivalry got one-sided in a hurry, as the Cyclones struck quickly for pairs of goals in the first and second halves to remain unbeaten in league play.

The loss snapped an eight-match streak during which the Crimsons went 7-0-1.

“They’ve got a nice team and they deserved to win,” said Jacksonville head coach Steve West, whose squad fell to 10-3-3 and to 4-2 in the CS8. “We’ve got to forget about it and get ready for the next game.”

Junior Gus Bloink, a towering forward, scored twice on headers, and senior teammate Bobby Smith finished with a goal and a pair of assists for SHG, which improved to 12-4-1 overall and to 5-0 in the CS8.

“We want to be peaking at the right time,” said coach Sam Tate of his squad. “We’re starting to get our runs down and starting to understand one another.”

As is often the case between the Crimsons and Cyclones, the first score proved terminal to the side that allowed it. After 28 scoreless minutes in the first half, the 6-foot, 4-inch Bloink headed in a ball off an Aaron Lantz corner kick.

“At 6-4, he is just dominant in the air,” Tate said of Bloink. “Even if he’s not able to put the ball in, he’s able to get up and challenge and not let the goalie catch the ball, or let the defense clear it.”

The Crimsons had a prime chance to get the night’s first goal earlier, on some fantastic footwork by senior Chris Comstock, who made a pair of nice moves against the Cyclones’ defense to create a one-on-one attack against SHG goalkeeper Max Rebman.

But Comstock’s shot sailed over the net, as SHG fans heaved sighs of relief.

“Chris Comstock is as good as they come,” said Tate. “I think he’s an all-state player and a kid that we had to stop. He just missed that shot by a couple of yards. It’s a completely different game if he puts that in.”

Three minutes after Bloink’s header got the Cyclones on the board, Triveni Singh got another header past Crimson goalkeeper Ryan Douglass, after a cross by Smith. The Cyclones led 2-0.

Jacksonville’s frustration with trying to contain Bloink showed clearly late in the half, when the SHG star and the Crimsons’ Alex Suter both drew yellow cards for shoving each other.

“Bloink is a really big kid,” said West. “We had kids on him, we had kids jumping with him, but he just jumped higher and got the ball. It’s hard to defend people like that when they’re a head taller than you, or more.”

Down 2-0 at the half, the Crimsons needed to score as quickly as they could to open the second period. Instead, barely three minutes into the new half, SHG got awarded a penalty kick when a Jacksonville player pulled Smith down inside the box — probably inadvertently, but still a penalty.

Smith made the kick, and the Cyclones led 3-0.

Two minutes later, Bloink added the final goal to cap a nice breakaway. He passed to Smith toward the right corner, then Smith crossed it back to Bloink who headed the ball in.

“Our four goals came on four crosses,” said Tate. “So we were trying to get behind their defense and then cross the ball.”

The contest ended with 27 minutes and 27 seconds to go when flashes of bright lightning signaled the approach of a rainstorm. Rather than wait out a potentially lengthy delay, both Tate and West had agreed prior to the contest that the game should end in such a circumstance.

SHG outshot Jacksonville on goal, 8-3 and had five corner kicks to just one for the Crimsons.