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SOUTHMONT BOYS' SOCCER SECTIONAL: Cougars season ended as Trailblazers advance to final
No. 16 North Putnam saw its season come to a close on Wednesday night at Southmont High School in the semifinal of IHSAA Boys’ Soccer Class A Sectional No. 40.
The Cougars could not get past a talented University squad after getting down early and the match ended at 3-0 in the favor of the Trailblazers.
The loss ended the season for the Cougars with a record of 10-5-2, while University improved to 7-10 and advanced to play A No. 1 Covenant Christian in the final Saturday.
“University, I think, kicked it up a notch from its game on Monday. They played well, their good players played extremely well. They play a tough schedule, and it showed,” North Putnam head coach Kyle Morgan said.
University was aggressive early, but the Cougar defense was able to withstand the pressure in the first 20 minutes, but a goal by Simon Ngo with 21:34 left in the half gave the Trailblazers a 1-0 lead.
The Blazers almost scored again a minute later, but a huge double save by Michael Ali Jr. prevented the goal. Ali had two more saves in the next ten minutes as University kept attacking.
“Michael (Ali) is one of the best goal keepers, if not the best, in our program history. I never had to worry about him,” Morgan said.
Despite the saves, University continued to pound away at the net and broke through with a pair of goals just three and a half minutes apart.
Ngo picked up another one with 7:01 to play and University came right back as Padric Hatton knocked in a rebound after an Ali save to give the Blazers their 3-0 lead.
“When you give up one, you cannot immediately concede another one. Good teams, put people away and tonight we were on the other end of that,” Morgan said.
North Putnam aggressively attacked in the second half, but University adjusted their style and locked the game down defensively. The Cougars would get little chance to score in that second half as the Blazers continued to keep the ball away from scoring positions.
“Their (University) ability to score three goals in the first half as quickly as they did shows how talented they are. It is hard to bounce back from that,” Morgan said.
The Cougars successful season disappointedly came to an end, but the program is in better shape due to the seniors that are on the squad. Ali, Braden Neureiter, Braxton Mercurio, Bastian Sobrion-Behler and Jeremiah Miles picked up 41 wins over their four years.
The first half was the telling difference allowing the second half to be controlled by University’s defense.
“They worked harder than we did in the first half. I think the boys will tell you that. I think we were little tired and got shocked,” Morgan said.