Indian Land boys denied again, as Bishop England takes another soccer title

Two goals set up by corner kicks helped to break the heart of the Indian Land Warriors, who again lost the 2A state boys soccer championship for the fifth year in a row, this time falling to Bishop England 4-1 Friday evening at Irmo High.

The Warriors came into the game ranked third in the state, with the Battling Bishops ranked number one. The last time the two teams met in the state soccer finals resulted in a 4-3 Bishop England win in 2013. Bishop England was making its 13th title game appearance in the past 16 years, winning titles in eight of those seasons.

Besides it being a state championship game, it was the last game for a dozen Indian Land seniors, who had put the program on their back and on the map the past four seasons for the Warriors.

“This group of seniors really left their mark,” said Indian Land coach Adam Cole.

Indian Land got a free kick about a minute into the game on a penalty from the Battling Bishops. Bishop England got a free kick about a minute after that as it started to control the offense early on.

Indian Land freshman keeper Josh Old was tested early but held up well against the Bishop England offense, which showed its aggressiveness in the first 10 minutes of the game.

The Warriors started to get their offense moving about 15 minutes into the game and tried setting up a scoring chance, but the Battling Bishops kept punching the ball back into the field, stalling any momentum.

Midway through the first half, Bishop England again tried to start gaining momentum by controlling the ball and taking shots on goal. As much as the Battling Bishops tried to keep the control, Indian Land pushed back just as hard as the two teams finished the first half trading possessions.

The Battling Bishops got seven shots on goal in the first half, compared to just three from Indian Land.

In the second half, after scoring, Bishop England was belligerent about allowing Indian Land any real chances to get into a good position to score. The Warriors got deep into the Battling Bishops field only once in the first 15 minutes after the break.

With about 11 minutes left in the game, Indian Land started pressing to make something happen, but still couldn’t find the opening it needed to score.

Bishop England added two more goals in the final five minutes as the Battling Bishops walked away with another state soccer title.

The bright spot for Indian Land came in the final two minutes as senior Garrett Gerdes scored for the Warriors on a penalty kick.

Turning point

Bishop England went up 2-0 with about 20 minutes left in the game on a goal from sophomore Curtis Johnson. The goal was set up on another corner kick from junior Alex Maillouox.

Critical

Just two minutes into the second half, Bishop England was awarded a corner kick where Maillouox fed junior Sam Friedrich who headed the ball in to give the Battling Bishops the lead.

Bishop England got several corner kick opportunities in the second half, which led to the offense it needed to win the game.

Overheard

Cole said the turning point in the game came on the corner kick opportunities.

“The goals took the air out from us,” he said. “It was good to get the penalty kick in for us. The guys played well. It just didn’t go our way.”

Box score

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Indian Land boys denied again, as Bishop England takes another soccer title."