Huard lifts Munster past LC to regional title

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MERRILLVILLE -- In one fell swoop, the Munster boys soccer team achieved two prominent ends.

The Mustangs downed Lake Central 3-0 in the Merrillville Regional championship on Saturday night, seizing the showdown between the Northwest Crossroads and Duneland conference champions.

In the process, they vanquished their annual postseason nemesis, and avenged their only loss of the season.

Munster (17-1-1) and Lake Central (17-4) met in the regional for the sixth straight season, with the Indians having won four of five, all with the title at stake. But in the sixth, the Mustangs added to their title from 2006 -- the program's first -- when they edged Lake Central in the semifinals before topping Andrean in the final.

"It feels great," said Munster coach Jim Prasopoulos, whose team plays West Lafayette Regional winner Harrison in the noon semifinal of the Crown Point Semistate on Oct. 25. "Lake Central's a great team. They've had the upper hand, and we just tried to keep on working hard."

All the way back on Aug. 21, the Indians had dealt the Mustangs a 2-0 defeat. But in that game, Munster was without Anthony Huard, who had a pulled groin, and the junior was the prime difference-maker on Saturday. He scored two goals, and his speed, all but impossible for an opponent to simulate in practice, wreaked havoc.

"I did it for the team," Huard said. "I'm just glad I was able to get the ball, and do something with it."

A lineup tweak helped facilitate that process.

Late in a scoreless first half, the Mustangs moved Huard to forward from his usual left midfield position, dropping forward Krste Ruiz to sweeper.

"I was trying to do anything to spark us," Prasopoulos said.

"I saw how they were attacking us and I had to make an adjustment. I wanted to give them a little different look."

Munster broke through five minutes into the second half on a goal by Derek Carlson. Huard had taken a free kick from outside the right edge of the penalty box, a scramble ensued in the goal mouth, and Carlson picked up the loose ball and hammered it just under the crossbar.

In the middle stages of the second half, Lake Central had four quality chances in a seven-plus minute span, including three in a little more than two minutes, but the Indians either were off the mark or were denied by Munster's defense.

"We missed a lot of opportunities, point blank," said an emotional Lake Central coach Jereme Rainwater, whose team started eight seniors -- including leaders on and off the field such as sweeper Geoffrey Bowman and goalkeeper Tony Halterman -- and has 12 on the roster. "But that's an awesome Munster team.

"I met a lot of these kids in seventh and eighth grade, and like I told them, they became a family at Lake Central the last four years. This one hurts."

After Lake Central's second-half flurry, Munster countered with a Huard goal for a 2-0 lead with less than 15 minutes left in the game. With the Indians, including Bowman, pushing forward to try for the equalizer, Huard collected the ball just over midfield, streaked toward goal and coolly finished.

He added his second goal with inside eight minutes, a blast from the top of the box.

"I wasn't getting the ball enough (as a midfielder)," Huard said. "Coach felt we move the ball better with me up top.

"They weren't as fast as me."

The teams had played to a 0-0 tie in the first half.

Munster keeper Jess Clark made a nice save on Jake Lecea 10 minutes into the game, then stopped Manny Rios from close range less than three minutes later after some crisp Lake Central passing.

Munster's best first-half opportunity came with two minutes when Huard uncorked a right-footed shot that Halterman mishandled, with the ball narrowly trickling past the right post for a corner kick.

"They had us on our heels, they really did," Prasopoulos said. "They created some golden opportunities. But our guys overcame it and persevered. I'm so proud of them."

Contact Michael Osipoff at 648-3137 or mosipoff@post-trib.com. Comment on this story at www.post-trib.com.