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Northview slips past Sullivan in nail-biting sectional semifinal
Northview’s boys soccer team has had Oct. 12 circled on their calendar since they were eliminated from the postseason last fall.
It’s a date they’ve used as motivation to get through the offseason, the summer workouts and the regular season schedule this year.
But when Sullivan scored back-to-back goals with 11:01 left to go in Wednesday night’s Class 2A Greencastle Sectional semifinal, erasing Northview’s two-goal lead it had been sitting on until that point, the nervousness of not getting to Saturday’s championship game for the third straight season began creeping in.
It was wiped from their brains 49 seconds later when Brayden Kreiger raced down the field and planted a shot in the back of the net to help the Knights regain their footing, and more importantly, the lead.
Northview then tacked on an insurance score – coming on an athletic play made by sophomore Tanner Hayes – to punch its ticket onto the title game, defeating Sullivan by a score of 4-2.
“On one hand, it’s nice to be able to do this. We’ve done it this year against Edgewood and West Vigo too. For whatever reason, this team decides to take some time off. It’s like they take a little unscheduled PTO right in the middle of a game. That’s just a trait of this particular team. But on the flip side of it, they also have the ability to come and correct the ship,” said Northview head coach JP Arvin. “It’s awesome to have this kind of tool in your toolbox, but you don’t want to have to use it all of the time.”
The goal from Kreiger, even in the most pressurized moment of the season and with the team’s fate hanging in the balance, didn’t come as a surprise to Arvin. The third-year head coach said the senior leader has taken on an important role this year and has shown up at the right time, so it was almost natural to see him do it again.
“We went from disbelief to belief on that,” said Arvin of Kreiger’s goal. “I expected nothing less of BK. He’s been one of our best players since this coaching staff has been here. He’s a real competitor that’s made massive strides as far as his leadership and being a supportive teammate. It’s paying off, so this was exactly what we expected from him.”
Kreiger wasn’t the only senior to score for Northview on Wednesday night.
Duke Strahla got the Knights off and running midway through the first half when he kissed a shot off the left goal post and past Sullivan goal keeper Logan Ketterer, marking the first-career goal scored for Strahla, which couldn’t have come at a better time, said Arvin.
“We try to tell the boys to worry about defense first. I also preach to them to hunt the back post because beautiful things will happen. He was at the back post, and bang, there it was,” said Arvin of Strahla. “I am ecstatic for him. I’ve been a part of his life as a coach with Kevin [Strahla] since he was 11 years old, so that made it even more exciting.”
Northview tacked on a second score early in the second half on freshman Landon Propst’s, who was making his sectional debut, long shot. But Sullivan answered with a pair of goals – one coming off the foot of Jano Coldeway’s foot and the other coming off a header from Coldeway – in a four-minute span to knot things up and bring those in attendance towards the edge of their seats.
They were only there for about one minute before the fans wearing maroon and black were up on their feet celebrating Kreiger’s go-ahead goal that played a major role in keeping the Knights alive.
With the win, Northview advanced onto Saturday night’s sectional championship game where it will see Greencastle, which defeated Owen Valley by a score of 3-0 in the second of Wednesday's semifinal matchups, for the third time in as many years.
What does Arvin anticipate from the title tilt?
“I expect to face a really confident team that expects to win,” he said. “We have to get past the mental block with them. We did it against Terre Haute South [earlier in the season]. I like our chances because I know we can play with these boys, but right now, Greencastle believes they’re going to find a way to get it done against us because they always have. I expect it to be a tough game. We’re excited to see them again. We’re excited to get another shot. Hopefully, the third time's the charm.”
Northview 4, Sullivan 2
Sullivan 0 2 – 2
Northview 1 3 – 4
Nv – Duke Strahla, 12:50 1H
Nv – Landon Propst, 34:50 2H
S – Jano Coldeway, 15:52 2H
S – Coldeway, 11:01 2H
Nv – Brayden Kreiger, 10:12 2H
Nv – Tanner Hayes, 6:41 2H
Next – Northview (8-7) advanced onto Saturday’s sectional championship. Sullivan (4-10-2) concluded its season.