A streak of nine-straight district championships came to an end last year for the Carthage boys soccer team.
The Tigers will have to wait another year to start a new one.
Carthage gave up a goal in the 10th minute and was held scoreless in a 1-0 loss to Springfield Central Tuesday, Oct. 10 in the Class 4 District 11 tournament at Joplin High School.
The loss capped a day of upsets in the tournament. Top-seeded Republic, the team that beat Carthage in double overtime of the district championship last season, lost to fourth-seeded Joplin in a sudden death shootout earlier Tuesday. And Carthage, the second seed, was favored against third-seeded Central.
“Them getting an early goal was huge,” Carthage head coach Jacob Osborne said. “I knew coming in that their defense is difficult to break down so I was nervous about that going into it. I was also nervous about giving up a goal and trying to come from behind because their defense is very organized. We didn’t play fast enough, we didn’t play sharp enough to break it down consistently enough. We had a couple really good opportunities and their keeper came up with some good saves on those.”
Carthage finished the year with a 13-7-2 record. The Tigers had blanked Central 2-0 in September.
Central, which improved to 10-12 with the win, scored in the 10th minute when sophomore Noe Winston cleaned up a loose ball after a corner kick.
Carthage had the advantage in shots, 15-9, and held a slight advantage in time of possession.
Central was defeated 3-2 by Joplin in last Thursday’s championship game.
