Niekos Whitney hadn’t planning on being an equal-opportunity goal scorer, though that’s the way Monday evening’s Class 3A sectional opener turned out.
Center Grove’s junior forward made a first-half goal with his left foot, scored with his right in the second half and tossed in an assist for good measure in the host Trojans’ 4-0 shutout of Columbus East.
The victory improved coach Jameson McLaughlin’s squad to a spotless 16-0 on the season. Ranked No. 1 in 3A, the Trojans face No. 15 Columbus North (8-5-1) in Wednesday’s 6 p.m. semifinal.
Despite being favored against the Olympians, the Center Grove players know October is the worst possible time to take an opponent lightly.
“We knew we were the favorites, but our goal was allowing zero goals,” said Whitney, who now has 16 goals and 12 assists this season. “We were just making sure we didn’t underestimate the team we play.”
The Trojans appeared determined from the start, working their way to numerous shots on goal over the opening 40 minutes.
Columbus East sophomore goalkeeper Ryder Meek remained plenty busy, making some impressive stops until Center Grove finally broke through 20 minutes, 3 seconds into play with Whitney assisting on Austin Lowden’s boot from the right side.
The Trojans struck again 38:35 into the opening half, this time Lowden assisting Whitney, who left-footed the ball past Meek from the left side for a 2-0 advantage with one half of play remaining.
“It was a little bit of an uphill climb going up against a very veteran team with a younger, inexperienced team for us,” Columbus East coach Sam LaVelle said after watching his team’s season come to a close with a 7-8-1 record.
“We made a few mistakes, but all we asked our kids was to come in and compete for 80 minutes, and I felt like we did that.”
Whitney delivered on a penalty kick 19:55 into the second half to make it a 3-0 score. Senior midfielder Matheus Gubert produced the final goal, his straightaway blast making it past Meek with just over 17 minutes to go.
Columbus East attempted only two shots on goal for the entire match.
“This team … they just work so well together. They play so well together. They work for each other,” McLaughlin said. “You’ve got to score one to win, but if you don’t give up any, it’s hard to lose.
“I was proud of our effort because it’s easy to overlook a team. Now it’s a new season. Everyone is 0-0 at this point. Just the effort and the defensive intensity we played with. That’s what I was really happy about.”
Center Grove has now outscored its opponents this season by a total of 62-5.
LaVelle, whose postseason roster is comprised mainly of underclassmen, was proud of his team’s effort as well as the Olympians’ season as a whole.
“This season, we really had three goals we set for ourselves as a team. All three of our goals, we smashed them beyond what we thought we could even do,” LaVelle said, referring to a top-three finish in the Hoosier Hills Conference (they won the league), defeating rival Seymour and getting no fewer than 20 players playing time (they played 25).
“This was definitely a tough first matchup, but ultimately, if you want to win sectional titles, you have to play the best.”
