DISTRICT SOCCER: Tyler Junior College's Alex Rodriguez boots the ball during a semifinal match Friday at Pat Hartley Field. TJC, ranked No. 1, won 1-0 in overtime.

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer, Tyler Morning Telegraph

At the end of a wildly frustrating South District soccer semifinal, both teams walked away feeling like winners.

Tyler Junior College dominated Mississippi Gulf Coast, but the Apaches needed Shaunovan Wilson's overtime goal to advance 1-0 Friday night at Pat Hartley Field.

The top-ranked Apaches (17-0) will entertain Western Texas (15-4) today at 7 p.m. for a berth in the national tournament. Western Texas defeated Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa, 3-2, scoring the game-winner with five minutes left.

It was the first loss for unranked Mississippi Gulf Coast (17-1-2), which was playing its first match of the season against a non-Mississippi school.

One of the Bulldogs' players summed up the feeling of the visitors by saying, "(1-0) against the No. 1 team in the nation. That means we're No. 2 in the nation."

The overmatched Bulldogs played great defense while putting together almost nothing on offense. They were outshot, 28-3, and all of MGC's shots came in the first half.

As for attempts on target -- or at least close to the frame -- it was 13-0. Bulldogs goalkeeper Gordon Waters made three tough saves. The corner kicks were 10-0.

However, Waters did not lay a hand on the golden goal with 1:06 left in the first 10-minute overtime.

Wilson, a sophomore from Jamaica, pushed up from his defensive position and took the shot from 30 yards near the top of the box. The ball rocketed into the back left corner of the net away from the flailing keeper.

It was Wilson's fourth goal of the season.

"He's done that two or three times since he's been here," said TJC head coach Steve Clements. "He's got a good strike; he's got a good long shot."

The Apaches recorded their 11th shutout of the season, and the clean sheet went to backup keeper Andre Grandt.

"We have complete confidence in Andre in that goal," Clements said.

Sophomore starter Juan Robles rested. Rest was sort of the theme of the night for the Apaches, as Clements mixed in his reserves -- in the first half especially.

"The bottom line is when you're going to play back to back -- if you've got depth -- you want to run all those bodies," Clements said. "Now in the situation that we're in, aren't we happy that we played a lot of people.

"You could have run your starters the whole time but � when your opponent is going to pack 10 men behind the ball, there's no guarantee (the starters) are going to score either. You saw what (the starters) did (in the second half)."

After making adjustments, TJC's second-half onslaught was impressive -- even if its goal-scoring was not -- as the Bulldogs hung on by a thread.

Wilson scored on a free kick with 2:48 left in regulation, but the goal was disallowed due to illegal touching.

"We certainly did not have great placement on our shots tonight," Clements said.

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Smoke Signals:

The NJCAA Division I Women's National Soccer Tournament will be held in Tyler from Nov. 19-22.  The men's nationals will be in Windsor, N.J. on the same dates. The event will be hosted by Mercer County Community College.

Link to Original Article:  http://tylerpaper.com/article/20091107/SPORTS06/911070343