Joseph Sanchez and Emmett Bowman delivered when their team needed them the most in a 3-2 overtime win for Crawfordsville boys’ soccer on Saturday against Sagamore Conference power Tri-West.
A scoreless draw for 55 minutes quickly turned into a scoring fest as the rain started falling harder and harder and water collected on the artificial turf at Crawfordsville on Saturday afternoon.
Bowman assisted freshman Ryotaro Nishina with 25 minutes to play in regulation to put the Athenians ahead 1-0 before Bowman led Sanchez to a break-away goal moments later to make it 2-0 Athenians.
“We know that Tri-West has a great program, and they are at the top of conference every year,” Crawfordsville coach Marcus Hale said.
The Bruins entered the game 4-1 overall and rnaked No. 9 in Class 2A. And they proved their ranking despite falling behind and the conditions quickly growing worse.
Samuel Goodin made it 2-1 on a penalty kick — ultimately leading to a game-tying goal by Dalton Mendenhall as time expired.
The Athenians defense kicked the ball out of bounds with 15 seconds to go, but it gave the Bruins just enough time to throw in a cross-field pass that opened up Mendenhall for an uncontested shot at the horn.
The comeback didn’t deter Crawfordsville though as Sanchez scored late in the first of two overtime periods to lift the Athenians to the win.
“As a team, we set high goals at the beginning of the year, and we know that is hard-fought win is one step taken towards accomplishing them,” Hale added.
Crawfordsville is now 6-1-1 overall and 3-0 in the Sagamore Conference. They host Frankfort on Thursday.
