Madux Tovey
Sometimes, the ball bounces your way, and sometimes it doesn’t.
Thursday night, Class 3A No. 6 Columbus North was on the wrong end of two of those unfortunate bounces, and 3A No. 15 Cathedral took advantage to post a 2-1 victory in a rematch of the past two semistate games.
The first goal for the Irish (3-2-1) came in the 35th minute when the Bull Dogs (5-2) tried to clear a ball, and it bounced off another defender and back into the goal.
After trailing 1-0 at halftime, North tied the game in the 47th minute when Parker Gribbins stole the ball from a Cathedral player near midfield and sent a pass to the left side to Madux Tovey. Tovey then laced a shot from 30 years that snuck just inside the right post.
The Bull Dogs looked to have taken the lead in the 60th minute when Jezreel Rivera took a shot that hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced down. North coach Andy Glover thought the ball crossed the goal line.
“It was unfortunate,” Glover said. “We spotted them one, but the kids responded well in the second half. We did equalize, and we had an opportunity that was well taken. The ball that hit the crossbar and went down, I think was in. Say we don’t concede the own goal, and it’s 2-1 the other way.”
The Irish scored the game-winner in the 68th minute when Carol Molina-Gomez connected off a corner kick from Quinn Bateman. The Bull Dogs had two free kicks in the final 1:05, the first from 35 yards and the second from just outside the box, but couldn’t convert.
Cathedral outshot North 14-13, putting six shots on goal to three for the Bull Dogs. Juan Jose Salcedo Calderon recorded five saves for North.
“The level of competition and the quality of schedule that we’re playing, we’re about where we ought to be, to be honest,” Glover said. “We’re certainly not going to win them all. That’s very rare. The season is running the course like I think it should. I’m happy that the boys are discontent with the loss, but I also told them I thought the second-half performance was pretty mature, all things considered.”
