Goalkeeper puts on a show to push his team to a league championship
Steven Huskey sat in his athletic director’s office Thursday morning and was at a loss.
Doug Carr, Andover Central athletic director, asked Huskey what he planned to do next soccer season without senior goalkeeper Davis Joseph, who has been a staple in the Jaguars’ lineup since he was a sophomore.
“We’ve got a good pipeline of goalkeepers, but he showed tonight he’s pretty irreplaceable,” Huskey said. “He’s just amazing. That’s it. He’s amazing.”
Huskey also didn’t know the performance he was about to see out of his captain. Joseph came up with about 10 one-on-one saves in Andover Central’s 3-1 win at Eisenhower to earn a share of the school’s first AVCTL II boys soccer championship.
“I couldn’t care less how many saves I make,” Joseph said. “I’m just looking up at the scoreboard thinking when we’re ahead, how much faster can these minutes go? Watch the highlights later and focus on what’s in front of you now. I think when you’re in the moment, watching the ball, it almost slows down.”
Andover Central was on its heels for all but a few minutes Thursday. Eisenhower sent players forward and pressed a high defensive line. The Tigers’ talented midfield knifed passes through the Jaguars’ defense, often leaving Joseph exposed.
He simply came through.
“Davis Joseph is the man, simple as that,” senior defensive midfielder Max Wurth said. “Sometimes he gets that opportunity, and we gave him that opportunity a lot tonight, but he came up huge. It could have been 10-3.”
Eisenhower hit a couple of posts and sent a handful other shots high or wide, but the Tigers couldn’t help but recognize the goalkeeper play they were up against.
With about 15 minutes to play and the score tied 1-1, Joseph gathered the ball for a goal kick. Before he hit it, he and an Eisenhower forward had a conversation that summed up the title game.
“Your team is only in this game because of you,” the Tiger player said.
A couple of minutes later, senior winger Marcos Vera Bareiro scored the Jaguars’ second. And about eight minutes after that, junior Jadyn Vossen sent the dagger into the top left corner. It was his second of the game.
Andover Central had to rely on its counterattack all night, and it paid off three times.
“Jadyn, Marcos and Leyton (Harper), that’s a dangerous trio,” Huskey said. “We’ve got it, too.”
The Jaguars had to win Thursday to clinch a share of the AVCTL II title, their first in school history. Eisenhower had already wrapped up a share, but the Tigers would have won it outright for the second straight year if they beat Central.
And momentum was with Eisenhower coming in.
The Tigers were winners of eight straight, including wins over AVCTL I champion Salina Central on the road, AVCTL II co-champion Maize South on the road and AVCTL I finalist Derby.
And Andover Central was coming off its first loss of the 2018 season and first home loss since 2016 — a 3-2 overtime loss to Maize South that clinched the Mavericks a cut of the league title. Huskey said there were tears.
After the defeat, Joseph took to the Jaguars’ group text messages.
“Remember this,” he wrote. “Remember how this feels. We have one day to be sad about this. At practice tomorrow, our heads are up, and we’re moving forward.
“And I think that showed.”