Payback has a way of tasting a little sweeter this time of year.
No one knows better than top-ranked Center Grove, which exorcised two postseasons’ worth of demons with Wednesday evening’s 2-0 semifinal defeat of No. 15 Columbus North.
It was the Bull Dogs, after all, who ended the Trojans’ 2022 and 2023 seasons with triumphs in regional semifinals on their way to deep tournament runs.
The third time was the charm for Center Grove, which scored its goals in a span of 33 seconds late in the second half to improve to 17-0 and secure a spot in Saturday night’s title match against East Central (12-4-1), which did its part with a 3-0 shutout of Shelbyville in Wednesday night’s second match.
Columbus North, which played the Trojans to a virtual standstill most the match, ends its season with an 8-6-1 record.
“I mean, you can see it mentally in the first half. They just have a mental jinx with this team,” Center Grove coach Jameson McLaughlin said. “There’s something about Columbus North, and the last couple of losses we’ve had with them, I think they just have the jitters. You’ve got to get past that.”
In time, McLaughlin’s squad did. Senior midfielder Charlie Habig broke a scoreless deadlock 34 minutes, 50 seconds into the second half; junior forward Niekos Whitney then delivered the dagger, scoring at 35:23.
Habig’s score came when the ball ricocheted off his right shoulder and into the Bull Dogs’ goal.
“We went in, I think on a corner or a throw-in … it popped back up and it came to me and went in,” Habig said. “It wasn’t the prettiest goal, but a goal’s a goal.”
Habig was feeling as much relief as satisfaction, having seen his team finally get past Columbus North with its season on the line.
“It’s like just getting that fly off your shoulder,” he said. “It’s been nagging you for years and years, and we finally got the win. We have to keep our heads down and stay resilient. One game at a time, one goal at a time and one play at a time.”
Center Grove finished with 11 shots on goal to the Bull Dogs’ nine.
“I knew if we scored first, we’re going to get two, and it’ll be 2-0,” McLaughlin said. “We just had to get that first one. Once it went in, you could see … the spring came back. The intensity came back.”
Center Grove led in shots on goal over the first 40 minutes, 7-5.
At 31:11 into the half, the Trojans appeared to take the lead when senior midfielder Matheus Gubert delivered a perfect touch pass to Austin Lowden for a goal. It didn’t stand, however, as CG was whistled for offsides.
Despite the loss, Columbus North coach Andy Glover, who said his players have experienced a trying past few months, was proud of his team’s fight against the state’s No. 1-ranked team.
“With the exception of the last 10 minutes, that game goes either way, and I think (McLaughlin) would agree,” Glover said. “We had our moments. They had theirs. To be honest, I’m glad they scored the second goal because the first one was far from clean.
“And it’s okay. That’s the game. In the bigger picture, for all this team has gone through in the past three and a half months, they can hang their hat on that season, for sure. I’m incredibly proud of that team.”
