With the way Tuesday’s Conference Indiana boys soccer match between Columbus North and Bloomington South was going, it looked like a draw was in sight.
Graham Keele decided to change the narrative.
Keele netted a goal off a free kick early in the second half and later completed a hat trick, and the Bull Dogs defense stood strong to claim a 3-1 victory at Richard Wigh Soccer Complex.
“If we can play 80 minutes of soccer, we can play with anybody,” North coach Tom Pollert said. “We have a murderer’s row schedule, and if you don’t play 80 minutes with the teams we are playing against, you lose. Tonight, we played 80 minutes against a quality, quality final four team from last year. We are close to turning the corner, and we’re getting ready for sectional.”
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Keele’s first goal came in the 48th minute when a free kick was awarded just outside the box. He booted the kick low and just to the right of the wall, and the ball snuck in the right side of the net for a 1-0 lead for the Bull Dogs (4-7-1, 3-2).
The second goal from Keele came when he dribbled the ball into the box and then faked out his defender, took an extra touch and delivered a hard boot at the net.
“I saw Sotaro (Kaneda) get his head up ready to play the ball in, so I made the run for it,” Keele said. “I made it past the line of defense, so I was able to pounce on it. As I came to the goal, I saw the defender coming towards me in my peripheral vision, so I faked the ball and cut it back to my left and slotted it into the bottom corner.”
Keele competed the hat trick when a handball was called in the box, and his penalty shot went to the right side of the net for the 3-0 lead.
The Panthers (6-4-1, 2-2) got on the board on a penalty kick in the 87th minute, but it didn’t matter with time on the North’s side.
“It’s a great feeling because we know that we beat a quality opponent tonight,” Keele said. “We can take away a lot of lessons from tonight’s game and apply them to the upcoming matches that we have during the regular season, and hope we can continue that form when we get to sectional.”
In the first half, both teams had a few shot opportunities at goal, but nothing could connect to the net.
The best chance at a goal for the Bull Dogs came from a kick from Will Holliday in the box that deflected off a Bloomington South defender to earn a corner kick. North couldn’t convert the corner, and the game stayed deadlocked at halftime draw, eventually setting up the second half rally.
Colvin Iorio finished with eight saves for the Bull Dogs.
