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All season long, the South High boys soccer team has generated a pattern of play that produced prosperity -- the deeper into the match, the better the Wolverines executed.
"We have a tendency to warm to the game,'' said South goalkeeper Alex Toomey. And beneath Saturday afternoon's sunny skies at Anchorage Football Stadium, the second-seeded Wolverines basked in the glow of the Cook Inlet Conference championship they secured with a 1-0 victory over top-seeded Dimond. True to form, the Wolverines (14-0-5) forged the only marker of the match in the second half, courtesy of rangy midfielder Tanner Smith. Shortly after a South throw-in deep in Dimond's half in the 58th minute, the 6-foot-4 Smith, stationed with his back to the net, collected the ball, spun to his left and ripped a rocket into the left side of the Lynx net. "I didn't even look,'' Smith said. "I just hit it.'' Smith's strike held up in large part because he and his mates barely allowed the Lynx opportunity for an equalizer. Though Dimond (11-1-5) enjoyed the best scoring chances of the first half and fractionally carried the play, the Lynx were denied in the second half. After Smith's goal, Dimond's only two quality chances came in the 76th minute, when Alcides Thomas' 25-yard free kick soared high, and just before the final whistle, when Toomey punched down and smothered Thomas' 20-yard blast from the left side. "Once we got the lead, our play changed,'' Toomey said. "We held the ball more. We passed more. Basically, we bled away the time.'' Smith thinks his team's strong second-half performances stem from fitness. "We just work our butts off,'' he said. "The other teams kind of break down -- we get tired too, but we keep going. That's why we're a second-half team.'' Both South, the defending state champion, and Dimond, the CIC regular-season champion, advance to the state championships, which open Thursday in Juneau. West (8-10-1) also qualified for state on the strength of Saturday morning's 3-1 consolation-game victory over Service. As the Wolverines and Lynx lounged on the artificial turf for the post-match awards ceremony, Lynx coach John Oliver said he's glad his crew enjoys another opportunity. "It wasn't our goal to win region, it was our goal to win state, so I'm OK with that result,'' Oliver said. "The guys are down. Now, they just have to remember how they feel.'' South's win marked the first victory in three matches between the teams this season -- they tied 1-1 and 2-2 in the regular season. Toomey kept the Lynx at bay early in the second half, with the game still scoreless. He made a diving save to his right on a bid from Dimond striker Anthony Aguilar in the 13th minute. Dimond nearly struck early in the match too, but Toomey was equal to the threat. In the eighth minute, Aguilar took a pass from Thomas on the right side. As Aguilar took a touch and pulled back his right leg to fire a shot, Toomey charged out to cut down Aguilar's shooting angle and swallowed the blast into his mid-section. Actually, the point of impact was slightly south of Toomey's stomach, which is why he stayed down on the turf recovering for a couple minutes. "I saw the ball and the shooter, and I just dove and hoped,'' Toomey said. "It was kind of a double-edged sword.'' Uh, yeah, considering where Aguilar's shot struck Toomey. You could say the goalkeeper took one for his team, and for a title. West 3, Service 1 West secured a state-tournament berth on the strength of two goals from Miguel Franco, who scored the opening strike in the first half and furnished the match-winning goal in the second half of a 3-1 third-place victory over Service at AFS. Franco provided the Eagles with a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute. Adam Klie countered for Service (10-4-7) in the 44th minute to forge a 1-1 tie before Franco struck again in the 59th minute. Patrick Boyd padded West's lead to 3-1 seconds before the final whistle after Service brought its goaltender forward into the attack for a corner kick as the Cougars searched for the equalizer. When West cleared Service's bid, Boyd chased down the ball and scored from the midfield.