North Putnam boys soccer succumbs to Chargers

ROACHDALE -- North Putnam's boys' soccer team played host to North Montgomery on Wednesday, with the visiting Chargers taking a 4-0 win.

The home side started off the brighter of the two sides, with Zach Green having the opening chance of the game. Zach Hunter's cross from the right came straight to Green at the top of the box, but he shot just wide of the near post.

From there, North Montgomery began to take hold of the game, keeping the ball in North Putnam territory for prolonged periods.

Garrett Hatley sent a cross into the box that Clay Chastain, inside the six yard box, should have shot, but could not get the ball out from under his feet.

Hatley then tried to send in Jacob Bonebreak, but Cougar keeper Jon Goode beat Bonebreak to the ball ten yards out from goal.

The Chargers finally broke through with fourteen minutes to go in the first half. An intercepted pass in the North Putnam half of the field gave Teak Harmon a three on two break to work with.

Harmon, with options to either side, slid to his right and slammed past Goode to give North Montgomery a 1-0 lead.

The Cougars would then find themselves pinned back as the Chargers had several opportunities to add to the lead. Harmon slapped another shot at Goode, which, while palmed away, rolled in front of goal without going in.

Off a corner, Dexter Odle had a shot cleared off the line by Nate Woodlums before Chastain blasted over the bar. Hatley then was sent in off the ensuing goal kick, but completely miss-hit the effort.

Wade Gobin was also denied a goal when his shot from the endline rolled in front of an empty net but did not find the back of the net.

As the half ended, North Putnam had a shot to tie. Stephen Freund attempted to slide in Zach Ruble and, while the ball was intercepted, it landed in front of Green.

Green slid left twice before firing a low shot that missed narrowly wide to the same side he had missed earlier in the game.

Goode was called on again in the second half to palm away a header from Harmon that looked to be just out of his reach.

North Montgomery would get their second goal from the penalty spot after Jacob Hendershot knocked over Odle in the box.

Odle stepped up to take the kick, and while Goode guessed the right direction and height, Odle put it too far into the right corner for the freshman goalkeeper to reach.

The game would settle down from there, though the Chargers would add two tallies to their score.

The first came eight minutes after the penalty. A corner from Bonebreak bounced around in the box before Chastain hammered it in from six yards out.

And the final score came as the horn sounded when Braydon Risner collected a rebound, rounded Goode, and completed the game with a strike from six yards out.

Cougar head coach David Moeller said afterwards that things just seemed to go south after the opening period.

"I thought we played well the first ten minutes. After that, we didn't really possess the ball and were on the back foot for the rest of the game. Northmont did a great job of winning 50-50 balls," Moeller said.

"They controlled things a lot better than we did. They won a lot of balls. They seemed to want it more than we did at times. Their movement off the ball was better than ours.

"We were holding on to possession. We weren't trying to force things forward. I felt, after the first ten minutes, when we got the ball, we'd kick it long, hoping somebody would try and run on to it," Moeller added.

"We kept the ball wide at the beginning, but as the game went on we sent it to the corners and hoped someone would win the footrace to it."

The schedule makers did not do the Cougars any favors this week, as they take on West Vigo Thursday, the fourth game in six days. Moeller said his side will need to dig in a little for the Thursday contest.

"I'm sure fatigue is playing a part. We played Saturday against Crawfordsville. Monday we played at Western Boone. We played tonight and we're going again tomorrow. Maybe that's what got to us after the first few minutes tonight," Moeller said.

"I hope tomorrow we come ready to play, and better than we did tonight. It just wasn't happening today."

At North Putnam

North Montgomery 1 3 -4

North Putnam 0 0 - 0

1st Half

14:03 - Harmon (0-1)

2nd Half

26:09 - Odle (penalty) (0-2)

20:32 - Risner yellow card

18:27 - Chastain (0-3)

0:00 - Risner (0-4)

Next Game: North Putnam hosts West Vigo Thursday.