Columbus North’s Mathiang Kak and Columbus East’s David Sylva battle for the ball Thursday at BCSC Soccer Complex.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
When Columbus East emerged with a packed-in defense in Thursday night’s crosstown boys soccer matchup, Columbus North was ready for it.
The Class 3A No. 6 Bull Dogs took about 25 minutes to break the ice, but scored one goal in the first half and two more in the second to post a 3-0 victory at the BCSC Soccer Complex.
“We were expecting one of two things, and what they showed defensively is one of the two things that we had kind of discussed and planned for,” North coach Andy Glover said. “It’s still a tough nut to crack. We have to be patient and find the right pathways to goal, and I think over time, we did that.”
Sophomore Mathiang Kak put the Bull Dogs (5-1) on the board when he took a pass from Aidan Espejel and put the ball just inside the right post. In the second half, Kak found Espejel’s brother Angel Espejel for a goal in the 56th minute to make it 2-0.
“It’s inspirational, kind of,” Kak said. “It’s my first time playing them. I played a whole bunch of my (club) teammates out on this field. I’m glad we won.”
North’s third tally was an own goal credited to Parker Gribbins in the 75th minute.
North outshot the Olympians (1-2) 25-1, putting nine shots on goal to none for East. Ryder Meek recorded six saves for the Olympians.
“We’ve worked a lot through the first three games and our trainings on playing as a unit defensively and shifting, and I felt like in that first half and even in the second half, we had some really good moments defensively on things that we had been working on,” East coach Sam LaVelle said. “So this is a good steppingstone. I feel pretty confident about where we’re at, and I think we got better today.”
Juan Jose Salcedo Calderon played the first 69 minutes in goal, and Noah Marsh played the final 11 minutes for the Bull Dogs. They did not face a shot, thanks to the back line of center backs Konnor Gribbins and Leo Iorio and defenders Sam Brown, Jonah Sipes, Luccas Peda and Bryan Rodriguez.
“I feel very good about the back four and six,” Glover said. “They’re very steady. They have a lot of experience, and we’ll sprinkle some younger kids into that configuration to ensure that they get experience, as well.”
“It was good,” Konnor Gribbins added. “We played high-pressure defense. They really couldn’t break us in the front half, and we just controlled the game out of the back.”
Both teams now have a week off from competition before North hosts Cathedral and East hosts Seymour on Sept. 5.
