COLUMBUS
On a hot, muggy evening, it was strange that Center Grove needed a while to get warmed up against Columbus North.
But once the Trojans did heat up, they became too hot for the Bull Dogs to handle, scoring four goals in less than five minutes during the second half on their way to a 5-2 victory.
“In the first half, we played our game plan to perfection and played them evenly. In the second half, they took it to another level,” Columbus North coach Tom Pollert stated. “They are a top-10 program. They are where we want to be.”
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The Bull Dogs opened the scoring with 16:44 remaining in the first half. After a Center Grove foul, Andrew Goble took a free kick from near midfield, sending it to the center of the goal. From there, Graham Keele was able to wrestle the ball away from the Trojan defense and sneak the ball into the right side of the net, giving North a 1-0 lead.
The visitors were able to answer with a goal of their own eight minutes later. On Center Grove’s fifth corner kick of the first half, Carter Zuch sent a cross toward the net that Bull Dog goalkeeper Noah Kestler seemed to have a bead on. The ball, however, slipped through Kestler’s fingertips, and the Trojans’ Owen Assenmacher was there to punch it in, evening the score at 1-1 heading into halftime.
Columbus North struck first again in the second half. A foul in the box set the Bull Dogs up with a penalty kick with 29:44 left, and Keele took full advantage, scoring his second goal of the game. And much like the first half, the Trojans answered right back two minutes later with a penalty kick conversion of their own off of the foot of Jack Neal to tie the score.
From there, the Trojans absolutely took over, scoring three more unanswered goals in rapid succession. Following his penalty kick conversion, Neal found the back of the net again less than two minutes later to give the Trojans their first lead of the night at 3-2. Two minutes later it was Jacob Youngstafel who added to the Trojans’ total, making it 4-2 with 23:23 remaining.
Just 23 seconds later, Center Grove scored yet again, their fourth straight, when a Nick Shirer boot found the goal.
