In years past, the Center Grove boys soccer team was best known for its defense.
This season, the Trojans have been able to rely more on their offensive firepower.
Luke Boha and Jack Neal scored early and the offensive floodgates opened in the second half as the host Trojans opened Class 3A sectional play with a 6-0 drubbing of Southport on Tuesday evening.
Third-ranked Center Grove (15-2) will be back in action again tonight, when it faces Perry Meridian in a 7 p.m. semifinal match. The Falcons edged Franklin in Tuesday’s second game, 3-2.
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Roncalli and Whiteland will meet in the other semifinal at 5 p.m.
"They got the confidence early in the year that, ‘Hey, we can put the ball in the net, and we can do it a lot,’" Center Grove coach Jameson McLaughlin said. "And they haven’t slowed down."
Center Grove got on the board just 12:29 into the match when Luke Boha ran onto a low corner kick from Jack Neal and used his head to redirect it into the open left side of the net. Neal then made it 2-0 with 4:31 left in the half when he punched home a loose ball from short range.
"We were able to get the ball into the top, and I was just at the right place at the right time," Neal said. "My team got it to me, and I just tapped it in."
The Trojans gave themselves plenty of additional breathing room after halftime. With 29:59 remaining, Colin Parry put home a laser from about 30 yards out. Just over five minutes later, a Nick Shirer shot caromed off the post but found the foot of Mason Sutton, who knocked the rebound in for a 4-0 cushion.
Carson Wilhelm and Aaron McDaniel added insurance tallies just 28 seconds apart in the 60th minute.
In the nightcap, Owen Atkison put a free kick off the post midway through the first half but redeemed himself moments later, converting a pass from Nick Woods on a hard right-to-left shot with 17:58 on the clock to put Franklin in front, 1-0, going into the break. That lead didn’t last much longer, as Perry Meridian’s Van Biak Hlun tied the game up five minutes into the second half.
The Grizzly Cubs (10-7) went back in front with 26:41 to go when Yobany Lopez Perez won a one-on-one battle with a defender and knocked a shot in, but the Falcons responded with a pair of goals in the next five minutes. Bawi Cung Lian had the go-ahead tally with 22:27 remaining.
Franklin had a handful of chances down the stretch but couldn’t get the equalizer.
"They outworked us in the second half," Franklin coach Tony Harris said. "They know how to play this time of year, and we’re still trying to figure out how to do it for whatever reason."
