NEW PALESTINE — After dropping non-conference games in their last two outings, New Palestine was looking to get back on track and continue its strong play in the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
With rival Greenfield-Central in town, they did just that.
A pair of first-half goals by senior Eli Martin propelled the Dragons (6-6, 4-1) to a 3-1 HHC boys soccer victory over the Cougars.
“It’s a great win for us,” Martin said. “The energy was great and there was a lot of positivity all game.”
With the loss, the Cougars (0-9, 0-4) are still searching for their first win, but assistant coach Matt McConnell can see improvement from the team, he just needs them to get healthy.
“Tuesday night we played 2A No. 8 Park Tudor 3-2 and I thought the boys had a great night. Tonight, I felt like we had an okay night,” McConnell said. “We continue to see growth, it’s just not resulting in a win right now.
“Injuries are killing us. We had five or six guys that had to sit parts of the game or were taken out completely. We had to play some freshmen in certain spots that had never stepped on a varsity field before. We’ve got to get healthy.”
In a first half that was dominated offensively by the Dragons, the ball didn’t find the back of the net until nearly the 12-minute mark.
Multiple Paxton Holmes shots went just wide of the net or were saved by Greenfield-Central goalkeeper Nate Robbins over the first 28 minutes before Martin was able to put the Dragons in front.
Off a pass from Cole Christopher, Martin beat Robbins for the 1-0 lead.
“I’ve got to give a bunch of credit to Cole on that one,” Martin said. “He played a phenomenal ball to me, and I was able to finish.”
In the closing seconds of the half, Martin added to his goal tally by himself. After a steal, he dribbled to the top of the box and fired a strike into the upper right corner to beat a diving Robbins.
“That goal was huge,” New Palestine head coach Juan Diaz de Leon said. “The last game against Greenwood, we dictated everything and did what we were supposed to, we just didn’t finish and let that one get away. We wanted to get that bitter taste out of our mouth, so that one goal was big for us to get.”
The goal capped off a first half in which the Dragons offensive charge of Martin, Holmes and Christopher applied pressure constantly, outshooting the Cougars 14-3. Nine shots were sent on goal by New Palestine, but Robbins saved seven of them to help limit the damage.
“We want to have high pressure, and gaining Paxton back from his toe injury was huge,” Diaz de Leon said. “Having him, along with Cole who’s really experienced, both applying pressure, that allows our main focus to just not allow any long balls.”
After some halftime adjustments, the Greenfield-Central attack matched the Dragons pressure over the final 40 minutes.
Five minutes into the half, forward Ryan Dietz hit the post and a few minutes later, New Palestine goalkeeper Jake Wells saved another Dietz shot.
Dietz, along with the early second-half opportunities had a pair of first half breakaways, but had one shot saved by Wells, and lost control of the ball on the other scoring chance.
“The chemistry continues to grow. Ryan is a first-year kid and hasn’t played with Axel [Valladares] before, so that chemistry on the attack takes time,” McConnell said. “They’re growing together, and they’ll get there.”
With just over 33 minutes remaining, the Cougars offense finally broke through.
Off of a corner kick, the ball was played out to Justin Lane who sent the ball in towards the back post. Wells saved the initial header attempt by G-C’s Cale Caldwell, but Caldwell corralled the rebound and put it past Wells to cut the deficit to 2-1.
“It’s funny, 2-0 is probably the scariest score in soccer because momentum changes after one goal,” Diaz de Leon said. “They put us in some tricky spots, and they were playing a lot of fresh feet. I don’t do many subs, so they were more fresh than us. I told them that if we gave up one, to just remember to keep the momentum.”
A Parker Takach diving save on a Cole Christopher free kick with 25 minutes to go seemingly kept momentum in the Cougars favor, but it was Cole swinging that momentum back in the Dragons favor later in the half.
With 13 minutes to go, Christopher took a pass from Hector Medrano and got past Takach who came out of the box to play the ball for the open goal to close out the scoring.
“There was never a moment where the boys didn’t believe this one was still in reach. It’s tough to fight back from that late goal, but coming out of halftime we had high belief,” McConnell said. “The good thing is, we have a chance to see them again in the sectional, and we’ll be ready for that chance if we get it.”
