By ALEX CARSON
A Coghlin Kumler penalty kick late in the first half was enough to lift Class 1A No. 3 University past Central Christian 1-0 on Saturday afternoon in the Pioneer Academic Athletic Conference championship game, giving the Trailblazers boys soccer program its first-ever conference title.
University (8-3) returned to Anderson for the neutral-site contest just two days after its last trip there – a 4-0 triumph over Liberty Christian that won it the North division to qualify for Saturday’s championship — and used the same defensive resoluteness in the title tilt to secure one of the program’s most significant triumphs. With few exceptions, the Trailblazers controlled the run of play against the Chargers (9-2), and created a handful of chances before the big moment in the 33rd minute that turned the match.
Senior forward Ryan Williams used his pace to get behind the Central Christian defense before getting fouled in the penalty box. Kumler, a junior midfielder and University’s standard penalty taker, stepped up to the spot and made no mistake, putting his shot past the Chargers keeper to put University 1-0 ahead. Though Kumler got the tally, University head coach Wes Priest was quick to point out Williams’ contribution after the win.
“Ryan Williams is our leading goal scorer and although he didn’t get the goal, he made it happen,” Priest said.
But unlike two years ago, when University led International in the PAAC title game but fell 2-1, senior goalkeeper Thomas Burgess and the rest of the Trailblazers defense held strong, limiting the Chargers to little more than a few half-chances the rest of the way as University saw out the 1-0 win. In 11 games this season, University has held opponents scoreless in seven, including four consecutive clean sheets.
“This back four has been great; this was David Flickner’s first game back in two months, three months — he had a broken leg, so for him to even get in and get 15 or 25 minutes [it was great],” Priest said. “Jay Maturi is captain, he’s never come out, he’s played every minute of every game this season, so there’s lots of guys you can say really great things about.”
Priest said he feels his team is playing at a high level as the regular season winds down — with the conference slate behind them, University has key upcoming showdowns with 1A No. 14 Greenwood Christian, 3A No. 14 Guerin Catholic and 2A No. 9 Tri-West before the close of the regular season, tests that should help prepare them further for a grueling 1A sectional, where they’ll be in the same field as No. 4 Heritage Christian and No. 12 Park Tudor.
“You always want to be playing, whatever the sport, the best soccer, the best basketball at the end of the season, and as we head into the final two weeks, to have a championship, it gives us a lot of momentum,” Priest said. “We play top 10 2A Tri-West, top 20 3A Guerin the next couple weeks, we play a really good Greenwood Christian team and going into the tournament, this has been a fantastic, fantastic year and this was a good way to end the conference games.”
The University boys soccer team won its first ever Pioneer Conference championship Saturday, beating Central Christian 1-0. The Class 1A No. 3 Trailblazers got their goal off a penalty kick by Coghlin Kumler in the first half. (Alex Carson)