Columbus East went into Tuesday night’s showdown with Floyd Central in position to take complete control of the Hoosier Hills Conference boys soccer race.
That distinction, however, went to the Highlanders following their 1-0 victory at the BCSC Soccer Complex.
Floyd Central (7-5-2, 4-0-1) wrap up the HHC title with a win Oct. 5 against Bedford North Lawrence. The Olympians (5-5-1, 3-1) now need wins against New Albany on Saturday and at Jeffersonville on Oct. 5, along with a Highlanders loss or tie to BNL.
“We had goals at the beginning of the season, and a lot of those goals are still in play,” East coach Sam LaVelle said. “So that’s what we’re focused on right now, is achieving those goals that we set out for ourselves for the season, and that’s finish top-three in conference, do well in the sectional, and we have a few other goals with how we play that we laid out as a team. I feel we’re in a really good spot with a young group. Being able to get a result in the top three of conference and being able to play with a very quality side like Floyd Central speaks a lot about our team.”
The Highlanders scored the game’s lone goal in the 28th minute. Tyler Harris put one in the lower left corner, just past the outstretched hands of Olympians keeper Ryder Meek.
“It was out of Ryder’s reach a little bit,” LaVelle said. “We didn’t do a good job of clearing the ball out. But ultimately, it was a very nicely-finished ball.”
East came close to tying it in the 39th minute, but Highlanders keeper Grant Baker made a leaping save on a free kick from Emilio Quintero Aguirre.
After Floyd Central controlled most the first half, the end of the first half and the second half was much more even.
“We just talked about pressing higher up the field and really putting them under pressure,” LaVelle said. “We felt like we could do that and be able to create a lot more turnovers, which we did. We just couldn’t turn those turnovers into points on the board.”
The Highlanders outshot the Olympians 13-4, putting nine shots on goal to one for East. Meek finished with eight saves.
“I was really happy with how our second-half performance was,” LaVelle said. “I thought we got after it a little bit more and were able to create some turnovers and create some chances off that. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to finish.”
