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Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

St. X boys win 10th state championship

Third title in a row makes Tigers state's winningest soccer program

GEORGETOWN — Tyler Riggs had just won his third straight state soccer title.

St. Xavier teammates all around him were hugging and bumping chests and cheering, but he was quiet with tears in his eyes.

The Tigers senior, future University of Kentucky player and state soccer tournament Most Valuable Player was happy, but he had a heavy heart thinking about someone that he would have liked to have seen in the stands with the other 2,200 fans at Toyota Stadium on Saturday night.

"We called her Granny," he said.

"A few years ago my grandmother died on this day and my dad was talking to me about it and saying it's never been a good day, but finally today was a good day for me."

It was finally a good day for Riggs, who scored two goals in the Tigers' 4-1 win over Greenwood.

It was a great day for St. Xavier, which won its third straight state championship.

It became the first boys' team to ever achieve such a feat, and the school's 10 soccer titles helped it pass Ballard as the winningest program in state history.

But Coach Andy Schulten told his players they couldn't count on history to win this one.

"The teams in '94 and '97, they weren't going to be much help tonight," Schulten said. "This was their game and their night.

"If having 10 means something to them, then great. Having this one tonight means the world to me."

There were doubts that the Tigers would get back here. They lost nine starters off of last year's team that Schulten argued was the best in state history.

"It's really incredible," defender Barrett Metzger said of getting the third straight. "There are no words to describe it. ... We stayed strong and knew we could do it from day one."

Even Riggs had doubts early on, but he also had dreams.

"Last year after (our) state party, we had an open house and I was looking at the banner and saw the 2008 and said I'd give anything to put a 2009 one up there," Riggs said.

St. Xavier, which won its 10th straight game, led just 1-0 at the half thanks to a Cameron Coppola shot. The Tigers badgered Greenwood goalkeeper Patrick Conley with seven shots on goal in the first half.

Midway through the second half, St. X came alive, getting two goals in less than three minutes and scoring again with eight minutes to go.

The Tigers' defense held the Gators without a shot on goal for the first 60 minutes of the game. Shakir Feyzulov kept it from being a shutout with his goal in the final three minutes.

St. Xavier 4, Greenwood 1

Goals—SX: Tyler Riggs 2, Cameron Coppola, Mitchell Metzger. G: Shakir Feyzulov. Goalkeepers—G: Patrick Conley; SX: Oliver Brown.

Records—Greenwood 15-9-3, St. Xavier 23-1-1.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

MVP: Tyler Riggs, St. Xavier. St. Xavier—Max McKiernan, Barrett Metzger and Cameron Coppola; Greenwood—Shakir Feyzulov and Logan Guess; Danville—Jake Winkler and Louis Beto; Covington Catholic—Sam Mullen and Garrett Justice.