After a slow start, Crawfordsville’s boys’ soccer team took down North Montgomery 8-0 to capture the county championship and continue the Blue and Gold streak of this rivalry week.
Four goals in each half, featuring a burst of three quick goals in each, gives the Athenians their fifth straight county title as they move to 5-5-2 on the season and 4-2 in the Sagamore Conference, while the Chargers fall to 1-11 overall and finish the conference season 0-7. Crawfordsville also picks up two County Chase points.
“It’s exciting for us to be the county champs,” said Athenians coach Roger Azar, who wins his first with Crawfordsville in his first season. “It means a lot to the boys, to the parents, to the school.”
A large portion of the match was spent with Crawfordsville on the offense, as they challenged every Chargers possession and then went aggressively on the attack.
“We did possess the ball a lot,” Azar said, “and that allowed us to look for shots. Our bench was crucial tonight. Colton Custer was instrumental in the win.”
Custer, who had one goal and two assists coming in, had a goal in each half and two assists in the second to pace the home squad attack. “He was our player of the game,” Azar said of the junior.
David Munoz, who had three goals all season, had three against the Chargers, and added an assist.
Leading scorer Jaziel Gil-Herrera had one goal to give him eight overall, sophomore Matt Miller got his first goal of the season, and goal keeper Alec Saidian got the first goal of his career on a penalty kick in the second half. Max Brumett and Jayden Callejas each had an assist.
Saidian turned away seven shots to record the clean sheet, his third of this, his senior season.
“Colton (Custer), David (Munoz), Dario (Huesca) and Matt (Miller) all played really well tonight,” Azar said. “We are at that point where the record doesn’t matter any more. We are getting more intense as we get ready for sectionals. That is a different time, and we are looking forward to it.”
The Chargers just couldn’t get the offense started, but Coach Tristain Hall saw layers of good.
“We have been playing short-handed for two weeks due to injuries and illness,” the fifth-year coach said, “and then I look at our roster and see only two seniors. We have had a lot of guys step into new roles, and we hope to have everyone back and ready for sectionals. We had guys like Ben Oppy (freshman), Kevin Toledano (junior), and Noah Woosley (freshman) who all have stepped into new jobs and done a great job, and we have Owen and Noah Arthur (junior and freshman) playing really well on defense. Like I said, it is tough but good experience for a lot of guys who have a long future with the program.”
The Chargers had senior night last night against Indiana Math and Science Academy, and travel to Indianapolis Tindley Monday before finishing the regular season Oct. 3 at Delphi.
The Athenians have three matches left as well, starting with a Saturday trip to Greencastle, followed by a Monday home match against West Lafayette and an Oct. 3 finale with Danville, in what will be the last boys soccer Sagamore Conference match.
