The crosstown rivalry matchup between Columbus North and Columbus East definitely lived up to the billing on Thursday night at Richard Wigh Soccer Complex.
The Bull Dogs led 1-0 with 20.1 seconds left in the game, and looked forward to celebrating their first win over Olympians since 2016.
Chris Quisenberry had other plans.
Quisenberry’s free kick from the left side went over everyone and found the top corner of the net inside the far post to equalize the game with 16.1 seconds remaing to allow Class 3A No. 18 East to earn a 1-1 draw.
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“It’s always bittersweet against North. There’s a lot of excitement in the air, and there’s just a lot of enthusiasm with it,” Quisenberry said. “Being down 1-0 to them, the game is pretty much for bragging rights and no one wants to lose it. So I knew we had to fight back, and we had to at least equalize this game.”
North (1-1-2) captured the lead in the 69th minute when Alex-Ruiz Cordova drew a foul outside the box on the left side. Aidan Whitley took the free kick, and his shot was directed right at the head of Christian Cardoso on the right side of the box. The header went in from the far post to find the back of the net to give North a 1-0 lead.
The Olympians (2-1-2) had a close chance to break a scoreless tie with less than three minutes left in the first half when the ball was deflected to Quisenberry on the left side of the box, but his shot was saved by North keeper Colvin Iorio.
The Bull Dogs had a free kick opportunity of their own well outside of the goal box in the final minute of the half, but Whitley’s shot went above the goal post.
East had another great opportunity to break the scoreless draw in the 57th minute when Quisenberry’s free kick was right on goal, but Iorio pushed the ball up and away to earn the Olympians a corner.
Quisenberry’s corner kick went over the box, but Branson Young saved the ball from going out and kicked it back to the box, and after several touches, the ball rolled to an open Logan Cline in the right-center of the box, but his shot at the near post was just wide.
“You have to give East credit. They played hard, and they earned their moment and capitalized on it at a time we let our guard down, and it shouldn’t have happened,” North coach Andy Glover said. “That aside, I felt like both teams had chances. A crosstown rivalry that I’m very accustomed to, I think both teams are going to do nothing but be exciting in the future, as well.”
