The Columbus East boys soccer team looked like is was going to come away with the victory against Bloomington South Monday night at Richard Wigh Soccer Complex.
The momentum of the game turned around when a penalty kick was awarded to the Panthers in the 76th minute, and then Kamal Yarbouh’s kick went to the left side of the net to tie the game, and it ended with a 1-1 draw.
The Olympians (4-2-7) and Bloomington South played as close to even on the pitch, and it proved true in the final result.
“I thought the first half, we moved the ball pretty well, and I think possession-wise, it was pretty even … we just didn’t produce a lot of goal scoring opportunities,” East coach Josh Gonsior said. “I thought the second half, we started off strong, got a couple opportunities right away … and I thought that gave us a lot of confidence. I thought we played pretty well. It was back and forth in that second half.”
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Chris Quisenberry had several opportunities to put the ball in the net in the second half, but he finally got the goal needed in the 62nd minute off an assist from Brody Copas to give the Olympians a 1-0 lead.
“I thought we did a lot of things right. We just weren’t able to get a goal in there, and then one finally got in there with Brody and Chris combining to finish there.” Gonsior said. “We fed off that a little bit, but unfortunately we gave up that PK in the end, but it’s the nature of the game. You try so desperately to try to hold on, and sometimes you just can’t do it. It was unfortunate.”
East took nine shots, with five of them on goal. Goalkeeper Pete Coriden recorded six saves.
The Olympians have two more games this week before playing in the sectional. They host Jennings County in a makeup game on Wednesday, then travel to Jeffersonville on Saturday to close the regular season.
As East and Bloomington South battled on the pitch, the sectional draw came out Monday night and the Olympians drew New Albany in its opening game on Oct. 6. The two teams tied 1-1 on Saturday.
