North wins outright conference boys soccer title

Nathan Imlay

After beating Class 3A No. 8 Bloomington South on Tuesday to clinch at least a share of the Conference Indiana title, Saturday’s matchup against last-place Terre Haute South looked to be just a matter of formality for 3A No. 6 Columbus North to win the title outright.

The Braves, however, made things interesting before the Bull Dogs held on for a 3-2 victory to finish unbeaten in the conference.

“I wouldn’t suggest it was a letdown,” North coach Andy Glover said. “We’ve had a hard week. We like to have a challenging schedule, and we had a big test today. No letdowns, just a tough week, and we still won, so I’m very pleased with the team in winning the conference championship.”

The Bull Dogs (13-1-1, 5-0) who won a Thursday game at Floyd Central that was sandwiched between the Bloomington South and Terre Haute South contests, jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through the first half Saturday. Nathan Imlay scored off an assist from Anthony Johnson in the 14th minute, and Nico Goto converted a penalty kick in the 20th minute.

Terre Haute South (6-9, 0-5) cut the lead in half when Mason Ham scored on a free kick in the 27th minute. North answered 30 seconds later, though, when Flynn Keele finished off a pass from Misaki Takemoto and led 3-1 at the half.

The Braves got back to within one in the 54th minute on a goal by Ahan Bhattacharyya. After that, they had a couple of loose balls in their attacking third, but the Bull Dogs defense cleaned them up.

“We’ve had more mature performances in the past, but Terre Haute is a decent side,” Glover said. “We’re a good side, too.”

North junior Aidan Whitley returned to action for the first time since the second game of the season, when he had sustained a collarbone injury.

“We’re a little banged up,” Glover said. “We’ve had some injuries this season, and we’ve supplied a number of opportunities for younger players to emerge, and we’re still performing reasonably well.”

The Bull Dogs outshot the Braves 21-4, putting 13 shots on goal to three for Terre Haute South. Oscar Ballinas posted one save.

“It was not the best game, in my opinion, that we’ve had at all this year,” Imlay said. “Conference, though, it’s the third time in a row winning it, and I’m happy for the team. I’m proud of all of us, and I wouldn’t want to be on any other team besides this one.”