TRAVERSE CITY -- Curt Olson had redemption on his mind Monday night.
The Traverse City West senior forward scored the go-ahead goal early in the second half as the Titans went on to beat Traverse City Central 4-1 in a Division 1 district soccer opener at the Coast Guard field.
Just a week ago, West dropped a 2-1 decision to Petoskey that cost the Titans the Big North Conference title.
"We had a talk before the game," Olson said. "We wanted to redeem ourselves. That was a tough loss (to Petoskey). What we took from it is that we needed to come back stronger, we needed to make a bigger impression."
Goal accomplished.
Still, it was the Trojans who struck first Monday as David Noble tallied off a Christian Groesbeck assist with under eight minutes to go in the first half.
"That was as good a start as we could have had," Central coach Rob Boynton said. "We haven't been ahead of West since I've been the coach here. It was a good start. Unfortunately, we couldn't sustain it."
West tied the game with 1:45 remaining in the half on a Jon Gourlay goal.
Olson nearly gave the Titans the lead at half, but his shot in the closing minute hit the post.
"We were able to bounce back from that first goal to level the game at half," Titans coach Jason Carmien said. "That really relaxed us. We had taken the play early, and had some chances, but when they went up 1-0 it was important that we respond -- and we did."
The Titans, who had the wind advantage in the final 40 minutes, carried that momentum over into the second half as Olson and Rico Rodriguez scored in the first 31/2 minutes. Rodriguez assisted on the Olson goal while Brady Fagan notched his second assist of the night on the Rodriguez goal.
Miles Ullenbruch registered the final goal just past the halfway mark of the half. Gourlay assisted.
"We were able to control the flow of the game," Carmien said, "and once we scored the second goal we really put the pressure on and were able to put it away. It was a good one for the kids to get.
"They were disappointed in last week's game with Petoskey. But they really wanted to win tonight and build momentum in the post-season. This was a good way to start."
West, which outshot Central 18-6, improved to 12-6-1.
"We have a new motivation now," Olson said. "It's the last few games for the seniors so we're pushing it as hard as we can, as far as we can."
West will now host Alpena on Wednesday. The Titans beat the Wildcats twice during the regular season.
"They're not the best technical team, but they fight hard," Olson said. "That can get them places. But if we fight like we did tonight we have a good chance."
Central finished its season 12-8-1.
"I thought we played pretty well (this season)," Boynton said. "We had some great games against good competition. We beat Clarkston -- that was a good start to the season, beating a team ranked in the top five -- but there were some other games that I wish we could have played better in.
"We lost 11 of 16 players from a year ago so it was a growing process throughout the year."
The Trojans will lose seven seniors off this team, including goalie Dane Macdonell, a four-year starter.
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