Mustangs cruise past E.C. Central in soccer sectional

MUNSTER | Munster boys soccer coach Jim Prasopoulos knows the long road of the postseason will only be rougher from here, with talented competition stepping in his team's path.

That's why, even in Monday's 5-1 rout of E.C. Central in the opening game of the Munster Sectional, Prasopoulos urged his team to continue to play sharp.

"We need to possess the ball and get good touches on the ball," Prasopoulos said. "We need to support each other in smart ways. That's how we're going to have success in the postseason."

With a 2-0 lead going into the second half, Munster made sure to finish things quickly. Sam Smith, Chris Tassaro and Zarko Coric all scored goals within a 12-minute time span. On Tassaro's goal, he connected on a header off a no-look, backwards pass from Drake Bowers.

"Drake is a really nice player for us," Prasopoulos said. "He's done some good things for us. He's got some speed and really good awareness."

Munster (13-3-1) came out firing offensively, as Coric corralled a pass from Bowers and found the net just two minutes into the game to give the Mustangs a quick 1-0 lead.

Munster kept the pressure going for the rest of the first half, as Alex Sikora booted a short-range goal in with 8:05 remaining before halftime to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead at the break.

For Prasopoulos, starting the game with an early goal was important, but it also caused the Mustangs to get a little trigger happy on the offensive end.

"It's good to score, but I think sometimes when you get that goal really early then you start to get into bad habits," he said. "That's what we did, just start pounding it to get a goal with two passes."

The Cardinals (12-5) got their lone goal from Antonio Garcia with 22:34 left in the game. Munster out-shot E.C. Central 11-6 and Mustangs goalkeeper Evan Kattan made five saves.