Aidan Whitley
Class 3A No. 4 Columbus North was cruising along with a two-goal lead late in Saturday’s boys soccer game when North Central made things interesting.
The Panthers scored a goal in the 70th minute to cut the lead in half, then put one off the left post in the 73rd minute. But the Bull Dogs’ Aidan Whitley tacked on his second goal of the game in the 76th minute, and they claimed a 3-1 victory.
“They got a quick reminder that they can’t come off the gas pedal,” Glover said. “But it was exceptionally hot today, and we had three matches this week, three heavy matches in Center Grove, Cathedral and North Central and the boys have performed admirably in light of that heavy competition in such a short amount of time.”
The Bull Dogs (5-1-2) took a 1-0 lead just 9 seconds before halftime. Christian Cardoso took a corner kick, and Aidan Whitley played the ball back to Bryan Rodriguez, who rocketed one in from 35 yards for his first career goal.
“I told my teammates to leave it, and it’s either going to go 50 yards out, or it’s going to go in the goal, and it went in,” Rodriguez said. “It was a special moment for sure. It was good to get the first one to go up 1-0. It’s good to see us win after a heavy week for sure.”
Bryan Rodriguez
Just after halftime, Whitley scored off a pass from Leo Iorio in the 42nd minute. The game stayed 2-0 until the Panthers tried to rally in the final 11 minutes.
The Bull Dogs bounced back from a tie at Center Grove on Tuesday and their first loss of the season at Cathedral on Thursday.
“If feels good to get back in the groove after a tough week,” Whitley said. “North Central is a good side. I feel like we were in better shape today. It was really hot out, but we worked hard. It was what was expected.”
