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Providence Cristo Rey reigns in the rain, ends North Putnam's historic season
INDIANAPOLIS – A day-long deluge presented North Putnam and Providence Cristo Rey a dilemma Thursday in the second semifinal of IHSAA Boys’ Soccer Class A Sectional No. 41.
Playing in heavy rain meant the match would be more about attrition than action but a delay would mean play would resume Friday, leaving the winning team less than 20 hours to prepare for the hosts in the sectional final.
Both teams elected to play things out Thursday and after a cagey opening half, the Wolves struck seven minutes into the second half and kept the Cougar offense in check to claim a 1-0 win and a spot in Saturday’s sectional final.
“Obviously, conditions came into it, though I credit Covenant Christian as, even under that much rain, it was one of the best fields we’ve played on this year,” North Putnam head coach Kyle Morgan said. “We wanted to play tonight as whoever won needed a day to rest to have a chance when facing Covenant Christian on Saturday.
“It was an ugly first half as both teams tried to feel each other out most of the half. Providence probably had the better first half but neither team created much. We made a couple of tweaks at halftime, tried to play our game and created more chances in the second half.
“Providence created more chances, too, and the goal was something we possibly could have prevented,” Morgan added. “It was eerily similar to a goal we gave up to Greencastle a couple of years ago.”
With the skies yet to relent, both teams played out a 0-0 first half as North Putnam’s athleticism was tamped down while Providence Cristo Rey’s smaller but more technically proficient side was able to take better care of the ball in possession, leaving the Cougars pinned back often, though shooting in the elements proved adventurous for both teams.
North Putnam came out with a more aggressive gameplan in the second half but were stung by an early Wolves goal.
A sharp shot was parried by Michael Ali onto the crossbar with Xavier Campohermoso quickest to react, heading into an open goal to give Providence a 1-0 lead.
Unable to string passes together as they had for most of the season, the Cougars struggled to find chances to feed the front line of Matt Farrington, Nolan Hackleman and Kaden Helderman and, even if the ball got that far upfield, the Wolves defended in numbers to neutralize the attack quickly.
Providence continued to attack aggressively as well, often turning turnovers into shooting chances, and while many flew harmlessly awry, North Putnam could not chain things together in the closing minutes as the Wolves advanced to the sectional final Saturday.
North Putnam finishes the season 12-4, starting off with a 10-0 record, and winning both the Putnam County and WIC boys’ soccer titles this season, both firsts for the school in the sport.
While the team was short one of its three goals for the season, Morgan said it was still a strong season to send off the senior class with.
“It’s hard right now,” Morgan said when talking about what the 2024 class had accomplished. “These seniors have practically been five-year guys as much as they were around as eighth graders.
“They are now the standard for North Putnam, something each class before has done before them. We’ve had a lot of conversations about how to replace guys like Dane Spencer, Ashton Shaw, Zach Huff, Aaron Pickel, Zach Thomas and many others before but this is the winningest class in North Putnam history, the first to win a county title, the first to win a conference title and the highest-scoring group we’ve had.
“I’ve been blessed and honored to have them around,” Morgan added. “All in all, this season was probably the best that North Putnam soccer has ever had.
“Tonight was emotional and the last two weeks have been tough. We played four really tough teams late in the season and it’s at this time that true soccer teams show their money. These past few weeks have shown that we have work to do and we’ll get back at it in the next couple of months.”