Center Grove coach Jameson McLaughlin, left, embraces senior Charlie Habig following the Trojans’ regional semifinal loss at Bloomington South.
Zayne Spangler | For the Daily Journal
BLOOMINGTON
With Halloween still two weeks away, Center Grove showed up in disguise on Thursday evening — dressed as mortal.
The Trojans that took the field for their Class 3A regional semifinal at No. 7 Bloomington South bore little resemblance to the squad that had dominated its opposition throughout its first 18 matches, and as a result, the top-ranked team in the state (and the nation, according to MaxPreps) saw its season come to a premature end in a stunning 2-0 loss.
“I don’t know,” Center Grove coach Jameson McLaughlin said. “They looked tight. They just played scared, and I don’t understand it. Maybe it was the one (early) goal; we only trailed 17 minutes the whole season before that, so maybe just going down and being down, maybe that’s it? I don’t know.
“But credit to Bloomington South — their work rate tonight was outstanding. They never got tired, and they just kept working and working, so a lot of it is that. But we just couldn’t connect.”
Center Grove (18-1) had found the net at least twice in each of its matches and outscored opponents 69-6 entering the night, and it had beaten the Panthers convincingly on this same pitch in late August, 3-0 — but Thursday was a completely different story.
The Panthers were on the offensive early and cashed in exactly two minutes into the match when a corner kick snuck across the goal mouth uncleared and Mateo Soto was waiting by the back post to clean up the mess. Center Grove had some opportunities to draw even in the first half, but none that set off any alarm bells for the folks in purple; Saul Greenwood had a decent-looking attempt from about 25 yards out on the left side, but the shot sailed just wide and high, and none of the action inside the 18-yard mark resulted in a threatening shot on frame.
Bloomington South (18-1), meanwhile, got another clear shot from close range in the 34th minute of play, but goalkeeper Carter Dorrell was able to make the save and keep the Trojans within a goal going into the break.
Center Grove came out after halftime with more urgency, getting four corner kicks in the first five minutes of action and 10 in the second half overall, but the scoring threats never really materialized. Most of the team’s hardest shots came off the foot of senior Owen Dorrell, who sent a hard shot wide in the 47th minute and had another saved by the Panthers’ Owen Gerger in the 52nd.
“We just couldn’t get anything clean at all,” McLaughlin said. “And again, I think it has more to do with Bloomington South’s effort and work rate and the organization; the way they played defense tonight, it was outstanding.”
As the tension continued to mount on the Trojans’ side, the home team continued to create chances on counterattacks, with sophomore goalie Carter Dorrell making a couple of tough saves and another apparent Panther goal waved off due to an offside call with 5:28 remaining, keeping Center Grove’s comeback hopes alive. But then, one more South counterattack led to the fatal blow, a Konrad Polit tally with 3:25 on the clock all but sealing the Trojans’ fate.
After embracing each of his seniors while Bloomington South fans took the field in celebration, McLaughlin tried to find the words to describe a would-be championship run that got stopped three games short of the desired destination.
“If we have No. 24 (defender Keaton Barnhizer, a four-year starter), I don’t think it stops short here,” he said. “Or 23 (Owen Kalmas). To lose two starters that are that caliber of player doesn’t help us, especially when you’re going against a team that’s (17) and one, and the one is us. To beat them twice on their own home field was going to be a tall task.”
A little too tall on this particular night.
