There’s a reason that teams like McCutcheon are on Crawfordsville boys soccer’s schedule. It’s simply to make the Athenians an overall better team. Monday CHS hosted the Mavericks and while Crawfordsville was defeated 4-2, the Athenians never wavered against McCutcheon. With the win, the Mavericks won their 6th straight game as they improve to 6-5-1 on the season and CHS drops to 6-5.
In the games opening minutes the Mavericks got on the board with a strike from Ricky Puentes, however CHS responded at the 28:00 minute-mark as Patrick Corado evened up the score at 1-1. Before halftime McCutcheon scored two more goals to take a 3-1 lead. Jaziel Gil-Herrera found the back of the net at the 15:46 mark of the second half to give the Athenians their second goal of the night.
Crawfordsville coach Marcus Hale knew his team got better in the loss as they showed fight for a full 80 minutes.
“Playing teams like this only makes us that much better,” he said. “That’s why we play teams like a McCutcheon and a West Lafayette (ranked No. 1 in 2A). It helps us prepare better for the state tournament in the long run. I was glad that we were finally able to figure some things out. I’m proud of our guys for continue to compete until the end. Hats off to McCutcheon. They’re a well coached team and are really disciplined.”
Maverick’s coach Boyd Wheeler also credited the Athenians for their fight for a full 80 minutes while his team was able to hold on for a win.
“Crawfordsville is a very good team and they made us feel like we were up with how hard they played,” Boyd said. “They were getting some opportunities to score and have some really nice players and we always know when we play them that it’s going to be a battle.”
Crawfordsville will host county rival North Montgomery on Wednesday as it will be senior night for the Athenians. With a Crawfordsville victory over the Chargers on Wednesday it would also clinch the county title. Hale notes how his team will have to go out and earn the win against their county rival.
“There’s many reason’s why Wednesday is important for us,” Hale said. “Those seniors want to win a county title on senior night and it’s also a conference game for us. County is the expectation for us every year but you still have to go out and play the game. We’re not going to take North for granted. I know they’ve had some success with putting the ball in the back of the net as of late. We’ll have to be ready to go for sure.”
The game between the Chargers and Athenians will be broadcast on Thunder 103.9 WIMC with Jared McMurry and Kevin Jett. The game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 with the seniors for the Athenians being honored shortly beforehand.
