The Columbus North boys soccer team came away with a 7-0 victory Saturday against Terre Haute North, but little did the Bull Dogs know after leaving Richard Wigh Soccer Complex that their victory also gave them the outright Conference Indiana title.
By virtue of Southport defeating Bloomington North Saturday, every team in the conference has two losses, while North is unbeaten at 3-0-1 heading into its final conference game on Tuesday at Bloomington South.
Saturday also marked the final home game at David Green Field for the Bull Dogs, but they weren’t going to let the Patriots spoil the occasion.
“We’ve been working really hard to put together our best performance for two halves,” Columbus North coach Andy Glover said. “I think today was the closest we’ve been to doing that against a pretty reasonable team.”
The future home matches for Columbus North will be played at the new Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. Soccer Complex. It was originally supposed to be finished in time to have games there this season.
The Bull Dogs (4-3-4, 3-0-1) dominated the possession right from the opening kickoff and were rewarded in the third minute when Nathan White got a touch off a corner kick and made a pass to Jesse Williams, whose kick went right into the net from the far post for a 1-0 lead.
Columbus North doubled its lead in the 15th minute when Sam Larken dribbled down the right side of the goalbox and made a cross to Aidan Whitley, and his shot found the net on the near post to make it 2-0. That score would hold up at the break.
The Bull Dogs didn’t take long to put the icing on the cake in the second half. In the 42nd minute, Whitley passed the ball to White for a goal. Less than a minute later, Whitley passed forward to Mateo Mendez, who made a couple turns past defenders to put the ball in the net for a 4-0 lead.
Columbus North scored two more goals in the 44th and 45th minutes for a 6-0 lead. Both of the goals came from Whitley to complete his hat trick, and White assisted on both goals.
The Bull Dogs added one more goal in the 64th minute when Flynn Keele made a pass across the field to Christian Cardoso, who was open on the right side of the box and finished the play booting the ball into the net by the near post for the 7-0 lead, which would be the final score.
Columbus North outshot the Patriots 41-6, putting 15 shots goal to five for Terre Haute North. Bull Dog keeper Colvin Iorio had five saves in 73 minutes of action before being relieved by Lukas Iorio to complete the shutout.
“We had complete contributions from the entire team, so I’m very pleased in that,” Glover said. “We held on to the ball very well because the discipline of the individual pieces was coming together as a group, so it was very nice to see. A total team performance against a good side and a very good result.”
