Discoverers fall in semifinals

OMAHA -- The Columbus High boys soccer team found itself on the wrong end of the scoreboard this time around.

After 12 of their games were decided by one goal, winning 10 of them, the Class A, No. 10 Discoverers fell to No. 7 Omaha Creighton Prep 2-1 to end their season in the state semifinals Saturday at Creighton University’s Morrison Stadium.

“They got two goals on us that I don’t think we could have gotten to,” CHS coach Jamie Bennett said. “What the game came down to was missed opportunities on our part. But the kids still played hard, and that is all I can ask of them.”

One of the Discoverers’ opportunities to get a goal came almost right away to start the game, but Dustin Groteluschen missed a header that went wide right of the goal.

As for the Columbus defense, Michael Ziola cleared a lot of balls out of the box when Columbus goalkeeper Antonio Olvera couldn’t get to them. He blocked a Patrick Wedlock shot in the 11th minute, then cleared a ball out of the box when Austin Mohs missed a chance to get a kick on the ball.

But the Junior Jays broke the scoreless tie when Andrew Steiner found a seam in the middle of the Columbus defense, as Wedlock headed it into the back corner of the goal at the 28:09 mark.

About the midpoint of the second half, Creighton Prep missed a chance for a two-goal lead when Tomas Maxwell headed the ball twice in the box, but the Discoverer defense cleared it out before the Junior Jays could get a clear angle for a shot.

Then Columbus got a chance and took advantage. Groteluschen collided with a Creighton Prep player, who tipped his kick and forced the ball to miss high, which led to the first corner kick of the game for the Discoverers in the 60th minute. Collyn Sonsoni kicked the corner kick to Parker Staroscik, who guided the ball to Andy Christensen. Christensen then kicked the ball into the back corner of the net to tie the game at the 61:48 mark.

Tony Linder missed a golden opportunity a short time later. Creighton Prep goalkeeper Thomas Sudyka kicked the ball out after making a save, but Linder deflected it. He was wide open for the shot, but he missed wide.

The Junior Jays took advantage of the miss as they took the ball down the field and the ball looked like it was going to go out of bounds. But Wedlock saved the ball to Matthew Hergenrader, who then headed the ball to Andrew Hasebroock. Hasebroock then headed the ball past Olvera in the 71:26 mark for the game winner.

“The goal that Columbus scored on was a backbreaker on our part,” Creighton Prep co-coach Tom Hoover said. “I was glad to see the kids come back with a goal. Wedlock has been our go-to guy all season long and it was nice to see him have the presence of mind to keep the ball in play.”

After that, Columbus couldn’t a clear shot as it was unable to get the game-tying goal in the final seconds.

Hoover gave high praise for the Discoverers’ play against his team.

“I’ll tell you what, Columbus has a nice team,” Hoover said. “They are well coached and played with a lot of determination.”

Columbus will end the season at 14-4 and will lose seven seniors to graduation. Bennett said the loss was a difficult one to take, but said it was a successful season for the Discoverers and added the seniors will be hard to replace.

“I’m happy with how the kids competed throughout the course of the season,” Bennett said. “We all expected to be as good as we were, and I think we proved people wrong in the process. We’ll get over this and move on. Once we reflect on this in a day or two, the kids will be satisfied on what we accomplished this season. As for the seniors, they were true leaders for us this year. They led by example and will be missed.”

Creighton Prep (15-4) 1 1 -- 2

Columbus (14-4) 0 1 -- 1

n Goals: OCP -- Patrick Wedlock, Andrew Hasebroock; CHS -- Andy Christensen.

n Assists: OCP -- Andrew Steier, Matthew Hergenrader; CHS -- Parker Staroscik.

n Shots on goal: OCP 11, CHS 6.