JEFFERSONVILLE — The quest for back-to-back sectional championships didn’t hit a roadblock on the first leg of the journey.
Columbus East’s boys soccer team opened Jeffersonville Sectional play by defeating New Albany 2-1 on Tuesday.
In the opening 40 minutes the Olympians shelled the Bulldogs, but couldn’t find the net. Conversely, New Albany capitalized on an early opportunity to lead 1-0 at halftime.
In the 13th minute, the Bulldogs’ Edgar Garcia laid a short pass to Will Holiday. Holiday slotted the ball from near the penalty mark to put New Albany up 1-0.
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While East kept the pressure on, outshooting the Bulldogs 15-3 in the first half, the team couldn’t get one to go. New Albany keeper Quincy Rainey had nine saves through 40 minutes.
While his squad trailed at intermission, Olympians coach Brad Barber said the team felt confident.
“We knew we were a better team over 80 minutes. We said that at half time,” he said. “We were outshooting them by a large amount, so we were creating a lot of scoring opportunities. We knew that if we continued to play that way in the second half, we would be able to capitalize.”
It didn’t take long for the dam to break. In a chippy second half, East (8-7-1) took the lead and held on to it.
Fifty-seven seconds into the final 40 minutes, Chris Quisenberry converted a turnaround shot from just outside the 6-yard box, off a give-and-go with Rick Sanchez, to tie the game at 1-1.
From almost 30 yards, Sanchez delivered a screamer. Sanchez slammed a loose ball out of the air above the Rainey to give the Olympians a 2-1 lead in the 68th minute.
“In my opinion, you’re not going to see many better goals at this level,” Barber said. “Rick Sanchez has worked really hard to develop into a forward. When that ball came in to him, he hit it with topspin, and it went right underneath the bar. There was nothing the goalkeeper could do. Big players show up in big moments, and he certainly did.”
The scoreboard unofficially read that East had outshot the Bulldogs (7-5-2) 20-11 by the game’s end, and that Olympians keeper Zach Roberts totaled four saves.
“I felt like we kept our composure,” Barber said. “I was most proud of that from our players. I felt like we were mentally into the game. We didn’t click off when things got chippy. We played physical, but played the right way and I’m proud of the boys tonight.”
East will play Jeffersonville at around 7 p.m. today in the sectional semifinals, following the 5 p.m. semfinal between Columbus North and Floyd Central. Jeff stunned Seymour, which went 7-0 to win the Hoosier Hills Conference, 2-1 in overtime on Tuesday.
Both Jeff and East are coming off hard-fought wins. While the team has a quick turnaround, Barber said his team will be ready for the Red Devils.
