Boys soccer: Covenant Christian shows unity, makes ‘statement’ with semistate win
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EVANSVILLE — Covenant Christian senior Will Blomberg enters the frame after his younger brother, Noah, explains his game-winning goal. Will wraps his arms around Noah and makes a bold proclamation.
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“I taught him everything he knows,” Will says, smiling.
Debatable. But his next five words aren’t.
“We’re going to state, though,” he says as the two siblings look at each other, beam and clap.
The Warriors defeated Gibson Southern 2-1 at semistate at Evansville North on Saturday. Covenant Christian (19-1-1) will play Hammond Bishop Noll for the Class 2A crown Saturday.
Noah’s game-winner came on a counterattack with 22 minutes left. Covenant Christian didn’t work on transition play often this season, but focused on it in practice as they prepared for Gibson Southern.
The Warriors found Noah on a quick pass. He saw space out wide, ran toward goal and slid it into the corner as junior keeper Cale Ziliak came out to the ball.
The Titans responded nine minutes later with a goal, the only one Covenant has allowed this postseason. By then, it was too late.
“It’s only the fifth goal we've allowed this season, so we’re not used to doing that,” coach Josh Brown said. “But this is a gritty team. They've lost five games in four years. They're just always fighting, always going to put their best effort out there and that's what we got.”
Brown said he wanted his team to control the ball and maintain possession. Film showed the Titans played with a high line. The Warriors wanted to exploit the switches, get in behind with their speed and deliver multiple crosses.
Game plan executed. Sophomore Mason Stephens scored a tap-in off a cross for the Warriors’ first goal with eight minutes left in the first half.
“We got a little bit excited early and didn't really control the ball well,” Brown admitted. “We started controlling the ball. I thought we settled it really well and executed what we wanted to do.”
Stephens leads the team with 16 goals. He has eight assists on the year. Blomberg, his sophomore partner, has nine goals and leads Covenant with nine assists.
“We depend on them a lot,” Brown said. “They're very different. Noah's more pacey. Mason's more skilled. They work very well together. They dictate our entire attack. And they showed up tonight like I knew that they would.”
Stephens said the team had “great communication” and earned a “statement” win. Blomberg worried about the team’s lack of cohesion during warmups, but he credited Brown's motivation to focus and communicate for their resilience.
Brown knows there’s little room for error against Hammond. He wants the Warriors to play less “casual,” control the midfield and protect the ball. Hammond senior forward Joaquin Rosas (19 goals) will take advantage of a careless romp.
But the Warriors don’t slack often. When they do, it’s only for a moment. Because they possess something that far outvalues tactics.
Unity.
“We work together as one,” Will said. “We have each other's back. That's how we came out victorious.”
Joshua Heron covers the Fever, college sports and enterprise stories for IndyStar. Follow him on Twitter at @JoshEHeron. Marc Ray is the high school soccer reporter at the IndyStar. He can be reached at [email protected] , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Boys soccer: Covenant Christian shows unity, makes ‘statement’ with semistate win