Luccas Peda
Columbus North got a quick energy boost early in the second half of Monday’s game against Conference Indiana opponent Southport.
The Bull Dogs scorerd a goal early in the second half, and it was just enough to edge out the Cardinals 2-1 in boys soccer action.
“It was a great, collective team effort tonight,” North coach Andy Glover said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who are starting to figure out what it’s like to be an 80-minute player. It keeps the quality high, and we got a good result against a good team tonight. I’m really proud of the team. We’re in a better place than they might think.”
The Bull Dogs (6-4-4, 4-1) got on the board early in the first half. In the fourth minute, Manuel Valle received a pass from Luccas Peda, and Valle was able to put it in the net to lead 1-0.
Southport (4-5-5, 2-2-1) leveled the game in the 26th minute when a foul was called from inside midfield to give the Cardinals a free kick. Devin Ozolins took the long free kick, and the shot went over the entire defense and out of reach of North keeper Nicolas De Linan Palacios to tie it at 1-1.
Just like in the first half, the Bull Dogs got another early goal in the second half. In the 43rd minute, Brody Johnson fed the ball to Peda, who took several dribbles and got around defenders, and his shot went inside the far post for the go-ahead goal.
Southport looked to have the equalizer in the 49th minute when the ball went into the net, but offsides was called to disallow the goal. The Cardinals didn’t have any more threats the rest of the game.
North put seven shots on goal to three for Southport. De Linan Palacios recorded two saves.
Even though the Bull Dogs aren’t satisfied with finishing second in the conference, they know there is a lot more soccer to go in the coming weeks.
“We’ve been striving to stretch out that 60 minutes to make it 70. We clearly did that tonight, and the quality really didn’t fall off much for the last 10 with a couple of subs going in, so I feel good about where the team is,” Glover said.
