Columbus North boys soccer coach Andy Glover was looking for a little more emotion than what he got out of his players in its rivalry game against Columbus East on Saturday night.
The lack of enthusiasm Glover felt his team showed did not stop the Bull Dogs from picking up a 4-2 victory after turning it up a notch in the second half.
“The team wasn’t performing at a premium and found a way to compete against a good Columbus East team,” Glover said. “In the end, we feel good with the result, but by no means will we be complacent with the performance.”
The game got off to pretty quick start with North’s Finn Anderson of North scoring the first goal in the eighth minute of the game. The Olympians (2-2-2) came back with a goal of their own in the 16th minute, with Jorge Nieto assisting to Dustin Rodgers.
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It looked as if the teams were going to go into the half in a tie until the Bull Dogs’ Graham Keele scored on a corner kick in the 39th minute.
“I thought we played really well in the first half,” East coach Brad Barber said. “I thought we had more possessions and created a lot of dangerous opportunities … Second half, we came out and fought hard. I think we lost our legs a little bit in that second half, and we gave away two goals, but I’m proud of our boys’ effort today, and we’ll be ready for sectional.”
North’s second half goals came from Andrew Goble in the 54th minute and Ernesto Perez in the 65th minute.
Alex McGill had all three assists for the Bull Dogs (2-1). McGill kept taking what the defense gave him to set his teammates up for the finishes.
“I saw someone was super tight on me at all times, and then I would hold on to the ball a little bit longer than usual,” McGill said. “That would make space for the other players to make runs, and then once another person came to help the first defender, I would just play it to the open guy. He had all the time to shoot.”
Nieto scored East’s final goal in the 79th minute off a Jayvon Thomas assist.
Both teams finished with seven shots on goal. Zach Roberts recorded three saves for the Olympians. Noah Kestler protected the goal with five saves for the Bull Dogs.
