SEYMOUR — A week after coming back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to beat Jeffersonville in the sectional final, the Columbus East boys soccer team was faced with the same task.
Unfortunately for the Olympians, they were unable to make a comeback this time. Terre Haute South scored a second goal and then held on for a 2-1 victory in the semifinals of the Seymour Regional on Saturday.
East outshot the Braves 14-6. Both teams put five shots on goal, but Terre Haute South took advantage of an own goal in the 23rd minute to take a 1-0 lead.
“They didn’t have very many opportunities, but they certainly took advantage of the opportunities they had, so you have to give them credit for that,” East coach Josh Gonsior said. “They executed their game plan and kept us from really taking any really quality chances. I thought we came out in the first 15 minutes and controlled the game. That own-goal kind of deflated our sails, and we struggled to recover from it.”
The own goal came when the Braves’ Ashton Hayne took a shot from inside the box that deflected off an Olympians defender and bounced into the goal.
Hayne, who kicked three extra points for Terre Haute South in its football loss to Columbus North on Friday night, added the second goal off a cross from Brock Barger, who punted a few times in that football game, in the 46th minute.
East had a chance in the 53rd minute when Chris Quisenberry put a free kick off the crossbar. In the 71st minute, Terre Haute South goalkeeper Kade Kline made a diving save on a shot by Logan Cline.
The Olympians finally scored in the 75th minute when Dathan Wolf finished off a pass from Kevin Galindo Sanchez.
“I’m grateful we were able to get that goal in there,” Gonsior said. “We were controlling possession and creating chance after chance, and we were finally able to get that ball in with Dathan and that quality finish we had. We just couldn’t get that second one to tie it up.”
East almost did a minute later, but Kline saved a shot by Quisenberry. But the Braves (12-5-2) didn’t give up any other chances the rest of the way.
“If we could have tied that up, that would have been sweet,” Wolf said. “I know we would have come out strong in that overtime. That would have been our game if we’d have tied it up.”
The Olympians finish the season 9-3-7.
“We didn’t play any preseason games, so we were a bit lost, but after a few games, we brought it back, and then we kept playing with passion throughout the season,” senior Brody Copas said. “At the end of this game, especially, you could tell that we were playing with passion, and I’m proud of my teammates for stepping up and playing the best they can.”
East was playing in the regional for the third time in the past four years. The Olympians won the regional last season before falling to eventual state champion Zionsville in the semistate.
“We’ve really built this program to the level of getting to this regional game, and hopefully, we can extend that,” Gonsior said. “Getting to the semistate last year, it can’t be an end goal for us. The reason why we play this game is to win a state title, and we need to keep pushing to get to that level.”
