By Sam Findley
For the Daily Journal
In most cases, the four goals that the Franklin boys soccer team scored in Monday’s Class 3A sectional opener against Southport would be enough to get a win and move on. Instead, an early five-goal deficit was too much to overcome, and the Grizzly Cubs are headed home after a 7-4 loss in a showdown dominated by offense.
The Cardinals (11-4-1) advance to play Center Grove in a semifinal match on Wednesday.
Franklin (10-4-1) kept a strong possession for the first 10 minutes but was shut down by a strong Cardinal defense, which turned stops into strong counterattacks. One of those led to a shot from Adrian Castaneeda, which Grizzly Cub goalkeeper Riley Shaff snatched out of the air with 28:02 left in the first half.
Shortly thereafter, a defensive breakdown allowed Albert Thang to dance through the Grizzly Cubs’ back line and give Southport the 1-0 lead with 21:24 left until halftime.
Southport’s offense didn’t stop there. Hector Gonzalez Loza scored with 14:48 left in the half, breaking down Franklin’s defense to get behind Shaff and find the goal.
Southport’s Biak Thang gave the Cardinals another chance for a goal on a free kick from just inside midfield, and Albert Thang capitalized with his head, finding the back of the net to give Southport a 3-0 lead with 8:04 on the clock. Gonzalez Loza found the goal for a second time with 6:38 left in the half.
The Cardinals stretched it to 5-0 in the final minute of the half when Biak Thang found himself open from about 35 yards out and found a corner of the net with 37 seconds left.
Franklin coach Tony Harris must have lit a fire under his team at halftime, because Caleb Ingram dribbled it in for a Franklin goal less than one minute into the second half to bring it to 5-1.
“I tell you what, we gave them all kinds of space and all kinds of time and we allowed them to play their game and they are really really good at what they do,” Harris said. “In the second half, we challenged our guys to have a little more fight and a little more effort. They did. I’m very proud of them; they came out and battled and battled and battled in the second half.”
Franklin’s offense continued with its newfound life, with Ingram finding Griffin Atkison on the other side of the 18. Atkison beat a Southport defender one on one and made it 5-2 with 29:22 left in the game.
A hand ball on Southport goalkeeper Biak Thang and a consequential red card for the junior led to a penalty kick for Franklin. Atkison capitalized, finding the left corner of the goal to bring it to 5-3 with 21:25 left on the running clock.
Southport’s offense got its first chance to test Franklin goalkeeper Adam Ott, who replaced Shaff at halftime, with a penalty kick. Carlos Herrrera-Garci took this opportunity and found the opposite corner of the net to make it 6-3 with 21:25 left.
The score remained the same until Franklin’s Zachary Newton found JD Sever for a header with 5:10 to go, cutting the Cardinal lead to 6-4. Southport tacked on an insurance goal a little less than two minutes later.
Although the season may be over for Franklin, Harris knows there are great things to come for the future of his young team.
“It’s going to be great,” he said. “We lose two really great kids; Max Kudre and Caleb Ingram are great seniors. They have been great leaders for us. But we have a young core of guys, a bunch of sophomores and juniors, that are ready to play and do some awesome things. I think tonight’s second half is a building block to the next season, so I’m excited for it.”
