DIVISION II SOCCER Craig's goal carries Ursuline to victory

The overtime win against Salem advances the Irish to Thursday's game against Lakeview.
By BILL SULLIVAN
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
STRUTHERS -- Ursuline High junior forward Dan Craig may score several more goals in his career, but it's unlikely he'll get a bigger one than the overtime shot that gave the Irish a 2-1 win over Salem in the Division II boys soccer sectional Monday.
"The ball just came in on a corner [kick] and it bounced around a couple of guys," said Craig, who has three goals this year for the Irish (5-10-2).
"I hit it and it ricocheted off of a few guys and it went in. That was the biggest goal I scored this year."
After a scoreless first half, the teams were tied 1-1 after regulation. They also played to a 1-1 deadlock during the year.
Just a minute into the 20-minute overtime, the Irish tried their fifth corner kick and the Quaker defense broke down.
About a half dozen players touched the ball in the goal mouth before Craig found home.
"Two or three different players put a foot on it but didn't capitalize," said Ursuline coach Lou Fusillo. "All of a sudden one of the players capitalized. It was the right place at the right time."
Salem (3-12-2) had its way over much of the first half, but the Irish held the Quakers to just four shots after the break.
"In the second half we communicated a lot more," said Royer, who leads the team with five goals. "We made sure we got each other's backs. We didn't let anybody get behind us. We made sure we stayed on our marks."
At least twice Royer made sliding tackles to stop a Salem attack.
"I like to be real active," said Royer. "I like being a little bit more wild and taking control of the game."
Salem's first-year coach, Tim Ewing, thought Ursuline's defensive change at the break was effective.
"They dropped another person back," Ewing said. "We're a young team and we couldn't adjust to it."
With the match about 55 minutes old, the Irish finally broke the scoreless tie. Junior Seung Min Paik shot from the left wing and Salem's goalie, freshman Andrew Loudon, jumped to catch the ball over his head.
Florig scores
The spinning ball fell free when Loudon landed and Ursuline's Anthony Florig put it in from point blank range for his second score of the season.
The advantage held up until Salem's Brian Schwartz was fouled in the goalie's box by Ursuline junior Steve Novotny with 5:29 remaining. Schwartz's penalty kick beat Ursuline goalie Ryan Coffey to knot the score.
Ursuline plays at second-seeded Lakeview Thursday at 7 p.m.