Juan Jose Salcedo Calderon
GREENWOOD — For more than 90 percent of Wednesday’s boys soccer sectional semifinal, Columbus North went toe-to-toe with the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.
But then two goals within a span of 33 seconds late in the second half allowed host Center Grove to exorcise two postseasons’ worth of demons with a 2-0 semifinal defeat of the Class 3A No. 15 Bull Dogs. It was North, after all, which ended the Trojans’ 2022 and 2023 seasons with triumphs in regional semifinals on its way to deep tournament runs.
Center Grove secured a spot in Saturday night’s title match against East Central (12-4-1), which did its part with a 3-0 shutout of Shelbyville in Wednesday night’s second match.
North, which played the Trojans (17-0) to a virtual standstill most the match, ends its season with an 8-6-1 record.
“I mean, you can see it mentally in the first half. They just have a mental jinx with this team,” Center Grove coach Jameson McLaughlin said. “There’s something about Columbus North, and the last couple of losses we’ve had with them, I think they just have the jitters. You’ve got to get past that.”
In time, McLaughlin’s squad did. Senior midfielder Charlie Habig broke a scoreless deadlock in the 74th minute. Junior forward Niekos Whitney then delivered the dagger in the 75th.
Habig’s score came when Jonah Sipes tried to clear a ball, and it ricocheted off his right shoulder and into the Bull Dogs’ goal.
“I knew if we scored first, we’re going to get two, and it’ll be 2-0,” McLaughlin said. “We just had to get that first one. Once it went in, you could see … the spring came back. The intensity came back.”
In the 31st minute, the Trojans appeared to take the lead when senior midfielder Matheus Gubert delivered a perfect touch pass to Austin Lowden for a goal. It didn’t stand, however, as CG was whistled for offsides.
Center Grove finished with 11 shots on goal to North’s nine. Juan Jose Salcedo Calderon recorded seven saves, and Sipes had one non-keeper save.
Despite the loss, North coach Andy Glover, who said his players have experienced a trying past few months, was proud of his team’s fight against the team ranked No. 1 in the nation by MaxPreps.
“With the exception of the last 10 minutes, that game goes either way, and I think (McLaughlin) would agree,” Glover said. “We had our moments. They had theirs. To be honest, I’m glad they scored the second goal because the first one was far from clean.
“And it’s OK. That’s the game. In the bigger picture, for all this team has gone through in the past three and a half months, they can hang their hat on that season, for sure. I’m incredibly proud of that team.”
