COLUMBUS
The Seymour boys soccer team won’t be denied a rematch with Hoosier Hills Conference rival Columbus East.
Claiming a 3-0 victory against Madison in the Columbus Sectional semifinals Wednesday, the Owls will face the Olympians for the championship crown Saturday.
Owls freshman Daniel Hartman rifled a shot — off a pass from Mason Pottschmidt — from near 35 yards on the right side of the field to the upper left corner to put his team up 1-0 with 38:27 left in the first half.
“After Monday, hitting the post eight times, we emphasized putting shots on net,” Owls coach Matt Dennis said of the first goal. “I think it showed our emphasis tonight by scoring two minutes into the game. We were able to test the keeper a couple times. It got us off on the right foot.”
The Owls continued to attack outshooting the Cubs, 7-2, in the first 15 minutes of play.
Senior Kyle Jones narrowly came away with a score for the Owls with 8:12 on the clock when he hit a shot that bounced off the top of the crossbar and out in the box.
Following intermission, the Owls held the 1-0 lead 10 minutes into second half play.
With 18 minutes on the clock, Jones hit a free kick that bounced off the Cubs’ keeper and sophomore midfielder Brayan Morales slotted a shot off the rebound to give the Owls a 2-0 advantage.
After a series of passes in the midfield, four minutes later, the Owls struck again when Pottschmidt took the ball out wide and chipped a pass to Jones who headed the ball in for a score.
“We tried to slow it down a little,” Dennis said. “When we went out in the second half we did a better job of playing to feet. I thought we played well in the attack: inside and out. Combination got us our two (second half) goals.
The Owls tallied 19 shots to the Cubs’ six on the night.
In goal, Owls senior Austin Hatfield recorded four saves.
On August 25, East (11-4-1) beat the Owls 4-0 in Seymour.
Despite the prior result, Dennis said the final count against the Olympians didn’t tell the whole match.
“We felt that 4-0 wasn’t indicative of how that game was played,” Dennis said. “We want to go out and show them how Seymour soccer is played.”
Dennis said that his team will have to control the middle third of the field to win a sectional title.
“We’re going to have to mark better in the middle of the field against East,” Dennis said. “I think Jones and (Brantley) Adams are going to be huge to our success that day. They will have to organize the front and back lines. We need to keep possession and finish our chances. I don’t know that we will get as many chances against them as we did against Madison.”
The Owls (11-5-2) last took the sectional crown in 2010.
“We have six goals this week and haven’t conceded,” Dennis said. “We’re not overondient and know the score from last time. Being on a (winning) run while allow us to face east with a stronger mind.”
Earlier in the evening, the Olympians bested Columbus North 1-0.
The Olympians’ Levi Copas took a cross from fellow senior Andrew Thomasson and scored in the 78th minute to give the Olympians a 1-0 victory, and their first win against Columbus North in 10 years.