INDIANAPOLIS
After coming up empty for what seemed like an eternity on Tuesday night, the Franklin boys soccer team was able to break through when it had to.
Owen Atkison scored the go-ahead goal with eight minutes left in regulation, capping the Grizzly Cubs’ late comeback and locking up a 2-1 road win over Perry Meridian.
The victory improves Franklin to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Mid-State Conference.
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“It’s important to get the win,” Grizzly Cubs coach Tony Harris said. “No matter how you do it, ugly or not, you just need to do it.”
Atkison’s decisive tally came off of an assist from Ethan Pheifer, who had battled through traffic on the left side before pushing the ball out in front for his senior teammate.
The Grizzly Cubs had a pair of ready-made opportunities in the 27th minute of action but couldn’t cash in. First, Atkison was awarded a penalty kick with 13:51 left in the half, but his shot was stopped by Perry keeper Luciano Salemi.
An encroachment call against the Falcons gave Franklin another penalty kick just eight seconds later, but Salemi again came up with the save, this time on Pheifer, to keep the match scoreless.
Those missed chances came back to bite the Grizzly Cubs shortly thereafter, as Lian Van Duh found himself unaccounted for about six yards in front of the net and punched it home with 5:18 remaining on the first-half clock.
“When you have an opportunity to get one in the back of the net free, and you don’t get it — twice — I think we were a little bit deflated from that,” Harris said.
An apparent goal by Franklin’s Yobany Lopez Perez just over two minutes into the second half was waved off due to an offside call, and the Grizzly Cubs had another good scoring chance with about 26 minutes to go, but Jake Brown’s shot off of a back-door crash went wide to the left.
Finally, with 18:05 left, Franklin got on the board. Atkison’s cross from the left side found the head of Owen Mahin, who finally pierced Salemi’s shield of invincibility to tie the score.
Grizzly Cubs netminder Dylan Bastin stopped a Perry Meridian free kick with 1:55 remaining to preserve the hard-fought victory.
“They’re a good little team,” Harris said of the Falcons. “We’d like to miss them in the sectional.”
