Anthony Johnson
Columbus North put together a dominating performance for its eight seniors on Senior Day Saturday afternoon.
The Class 3A No. 7 Bull Dogs did not allow a shot in rolling to a 6-0 Conference Indiana boys soccer win against Terre Haute North.
“The seniors continue to take care of business,” said assistant coach Brayton Thornburg, who was filling in for head coach Andy Glover, who was ill. “I think the culture that they’ve implemented over the last four years has been critical to where we’re at today and getting the program back to the standards that it belongs at. Kudos to the seniors. They’ve worked really hard to get here. It was their day, and they took care of business.”
The Bull Dogs (10-1-1, 3-0) got on the board in the 16th minute when Christian Cardoso scored off an asisst from Flynn Keele. Obed Oliva finished a pass from Nico Gotoh in the 32nd minute, and Columbus North led 2-0 at halftime.
Flynn Keele
Cardoso was taken down in the box in the 45th minute, and Nathan Imlay stepped in and converted the penalty kick. Keele then scored off an assist from Trent Liggett in the 54th minute.
Anthony Johnson cleaned up a loose ball and put it in the net after a Keele corner kick in the 57th minute. The Bull Dogs added another PK in the 72nd minute after Keele was taken down in the box and Alejandro Alvarez converted.
“It felt great,” said Johnson, a senior midfielder. “I think everybody got what they wanted. We came out here and took care of business. We started slow in the beginning, but we ended how we wanted to end.”
Columbus North put 15 shots on goal in outshooting the Patriots (9-3-1,2-2-1) 30-0. Max Grewe, who replaced an injured Oscar Ballinas just after the kickoff, did not face a shot.
“Today was another great win to add in the book,” said Keele, also a senior. “We treated it like any other game and came out ready to play. We just have to keep up the intensity again, don’t take anything for granted and don’t take anything lightly. If we want to do well in the postseason, then we have to keep up what we’ve been trying to do this whole season.”
The Bull Dogs visit 3A No. 10 Bloomington South on Tuesday in a game that likely will decide the Conference Indiana title. Both teams are 3-0 in the conference with two games left to play.
“We will have to pick up the intensity if we want to keep our streak alive going into the postseason,” Johnson said. “Our biggest conference game is this coming Tuesday with B-South at their place. If we play like we did today, we will struggle.”
