BG advances to title game of Purples Classic

Published 12:00 am Sunday, September 4, 2011

Alex Slitz/Daily NewsBowling Green’s Kevin May (center) heads the ball Saturday past Lafayette’s Rando Ohyama (left) and Besar Gjoshi during the Purples Classic Soccer Tournament at Lovers Lane Soccer Complex.Click here for more photos from the Purples Classic.

It took the Bowling Green boys’ soccer team awhile to wake up Saturday morning.

But the Purples (8-0-1) snapped out of their lull with a goal in the 69th minute of an 8 a.m. match against Lafayette, settling for a 1-1 tie in pool play of the Purples Classic at the Lovers Lane Soccer Complex.

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“It came down to doing the little things right – completing passes, making runs and stepping up to the ball,” Bowling Green coach Craig Widener said. “We didn’t do any of that in the first half. We looked like we were really tired and asleep, and there’s no excuse in our home tournament to come out and play that way.

Click here for more photos from the Purples Classic.

“We had some problems getting going early. A lot of that has to do with how Lafayette played because they’re a very skilled team.”

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The Purples also picked up a 6-0 win over Bourbon County in its second Saturday game, securing a spot in today’s championship. They’ll play Bethlehem at 3 p.m., which they beat 2-1 on Friday.

Neither team scored before halftime in Saturday’s first contest, but the Purples trailed for 27 minutes in the second half until freshman Exodus Bargblor knotted the match with a sliding goal up the middle.

“We came out here and were a little drowsy from the other games we’d been playing, but we did good,” Bargblor said. “We aren’t used to playing this early. When we scored the goal, it opened all our eyes that we could win, so we started playing harder.”

Lafayette outshot Bowling Green 7-5 in the first half, and the Generals took a 1-0 lead with a goal by Rafael Vasquez in the 42nd minute.

But the Purples picked up the aggression with 11 second-half shots, finishing with eight shots on goal.

“We picked it up in the second half and possessed the ball a little better,” Widener said. “We were able to work it around, and we had some more success trying to create chances. We do well when we possess the ball, and when we don’t do those little things, we don’t do as well.

“We’re just trying to get better every day.”

No wins for South Warren on Saturday

The Spartans (4-3-1) escaped a tight contest against North Oldham with a tie Saturday, but coach Tom Alexander said the play could have been much better.

“We were very fortunate to get that result,” Alexander said. “It wasn’t one of our best games, and we’ve played much better recently.”

Senior Muhamed Suljic scored South Warren’s lone goal. He also scored a goal Friday in a 3-0 win over Bourbon County.

Sophomore Armin Hasanovic had a goal and an assist in that win, and senior Jerrin Kinnaman netted the other score.

The Spartans lost their final game of the tournament to Bethlehem.