An Ocean Springs player climbs the back of Warren Central’s Dusty Pennington (7) as both try to head the ball during the Vikings’ 2-0 playoff win on Tuesday night. (Melanie Duncan ThortisThe Vicksburg Post)

[1/28/04]First, Allen Carlisle caught a break. Then he made his own.

Carlisle scored on a penalty kick and an impressive breakaway goal to provide all the scoring for Warren Central in a 2-0 win over Ocean Springs in the first round of the Class 5A boys soccer playoffs on Tuesday.

It was the 12th shutout of the season, and the ninth in 10 games for WC, which will travel to Oak Grove in the second round on Saturday.

“I think we played a great game, and hopefully the momentum can carry in,” WC coach Jay Harrison said. “We played both of our opponents in the second round, so we’ve got a little idea of what each of them have. So we’re excited. We told our guys to enjoy the win tonight, but we’re back to business at 2 o’clock tomorrow.”

Both defenses played well throughout the game, but WC (14-5-1) controlled most of the action in the first half. The Vikings outshot Ocean Springs 11-5 in the first half, and missed one good scoring chance about 15 minutes into the game when Carlisle unleashed a rocket from the left side that sailed high.

Five minutes later, Ocean Springs (9-7-2) was called for a foul in the box and WC was awarded a penalty kick. Greyhounds’ keeper Ryan Joyner deflected the shot, but it went upward and bounced off the underside of the crossbar and dropped across the goal line for a 1-0 WC lead.

Early in the second half, Carlisle took on a third of the Greyhounds on the field for his second goal. He took the ball from one player and fought off three others to gain a step before putting a close-in shot past Joyner.

“I told him before the game that about every three games you take on three guys and put it in the back of the net, and we’ve got to have it tonight,” Harrison said. “And he did it, man. He just went right through and put it in.”

The goal put the Vikings ahead 2-0, and gave them what amounted to an insurmountable lead against the defensive-oriented Greyhounds, who were also playing short-handed after Chris Harper was red-carded and ejected late in the first half.

“They had a good defense, and we may have played a little too conservative,” Ocean Springs coach Scott Hawkins said. “I probably should have stuck a few more people up there toward the end and tried something different.”