Dragons Break Through, Reach State Title Match

Micha Grueber wiped away 87 minutes of pure frustration with one little kick.

The St. George’s junior forward, an exchange student from Germany, hit what seemed to be an impenetrable wall with each shot he took.

“That was driving me nuts,” said Grueber, who scored 40 goals coming into the game.

Number 41 was a long time coming, but it did come.

Grueber knocked in a cross from junior Chris Johnson with 3 minutes left in the second overtime period to lift St. George’s to a 1-0 win over Northwest in the semifinals of the A/B boys soccer state tournament at Auburn Memorial Stadium on Friday night.

The Dragons (16-0) advance to the championship game, today at 4 p.m. St. George’s will play Seattle Christian. Northwest (8-6-1) plays University Prep in the consolation game at noon.

“It’s indescribable,” said St. George’s senior defender Tony Longinotti. “Both teams played so well. I had a ball that came off my face that could have easily been a goal (for Northwest). You get a break like that and it can change the game.”

Grueber and the Dragons’ offense caught no breaks with senior Conrad Jones guarding the Fury’s net. Jones turned away 16 shots, including several from Grueber.

“He was the best goalie I’ve seen all season,” Grueber said. “I was just not used to missing chances. I tried to keep going and I finally made it.”

The goal came as a result of Johnson chasing down the ball as it was headed for the end line, 10 yards left of the Fury goal. Johnson sent in a centering pass. Jones tried to cut off the angle, but couldn’t get a hand on the ball. Grueber ran onto it and scored between two onrushing Northwest defenders.

“Luckily, our guys didn’t get frustrated and stop,” said St. George’s coach Toraj Farzana. “A goalkeeper like that can be frustrating. Our guys never gave up. They stuck with it.”

St. George’s keeper Drew Moser also turned in a solid performance, making eight saves to preserve the shutout.

After the scoreless first half and 10 minutes of end-to-end action to start the second half, the Fury unleashed their most dangerous attack to that point. Following a clearance of a Northwest corner kick, the Fury’s Gavin Andrews sent a low, hard drive toward the St. George’s goal. Northwest forward Yong Keun Cho and Moser arrived at the ball at the same time. Moser won the collision, however, and sent the ball out of danger.