SOUTHMONT BOYS' SOCCER SECTIONAL: Cougars strike twice to bounce Patriots in opening round

NEW MARKET — The North Putnam Cougars opened IHSAA Boys’ Soccer Class A Sectional No. 40 play against Bethesda Christian on Monday night at Southmont High School.

Patience, execution and defense were the name of the game for the Cougars in a 2-0 win that advanced them to the semifinal round on Wednesday against University High School.

Two second half goals, one by Isaac Polley and the other by Brayden Neureiter, keyed the Cougar victory over a Patriot team that they had played to a 3-3 draw early in the season.

The win improved North to 10-4-2 on the season, while Bethesda’s season ended at 6-7-3.

“We played well. We talked about playing a lot of defense. We knew how good Bethesda is and has traditionally been. We knew we had to play good defense,” North Putnam head coach Kyle Morgan said.

That defensive mind-set was evident early on. Bethesda Christian outshot the Cougars 10-3 in the first half but could not find the net as the Cougars repeatedly repelled the Patriots with the majority of the half played at Bethesda’s end of the field.

The Cougars did have a corner kick attempt, but it was unsuccessful as their defense kept them in the game.

“In the first half, I thought we bent a lot (on defense), but we didn’t break. The second half we were able to move forward and take our chances. And off we go…” Morgan said of advancing in the tournament.

Bethesda got the first opportunity of the second half, but a penalty kick was high over the crossbar.

Following the penalty kick, the Cougars were able get in some rhythm offensively. They had another corner kick opportunity and then a few moments later, North executed flawlessly on the attack and Polley scored the first goal of the match at the 23:42 mark. That gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead and all the momentum.

“That (play) is the definition of what we want. That is what we have been striving to do all year. We have been able to do it, just not consistently. For us to score that goal on the opening night of sectional play, I can’t ask for much more than that,” Morgan said.

The Patriots rallied and were able to get some looks at the goal over the next few minutes. Bethesda had three looks at the net, but each time goalkeeper Michael Ali took it away. The senior came up big when needed.

“(Michael) is a good one. They don’t come much better than that,” Morgan said.

The Cougars put the nail in the coffin in the final two minutes. Given their third chance at a corner kick, they executed this one to add to their lead. Neureiter converted the goal and with 1:13 left, the Cougars had their comfortable 2-0 lead.

“We have been trying that all year. For a senior (Neureiter) to get that and have his moment in the sectional game is an awesome memory for him,” Morgan said.

The Cougars ran out the clock and sent the Patriots home from the tournament, though they will need fresh legs on Wednesday as they will take on the University High School who defeated Sheridan 4-1 in the earlier match of the quarter finals.

“We are not done yet. University is a talented team. We were able to watch some of their game before this. They play a really tough schedule and are very technical. We will have to recover as we expelled a lot of energy tonight,” Morgan said.

The two squads will square off at 5 p.m. on Wednesday in the first match to see who can advance to the sectional final.