Doyle, defense keep Bloomington South boys' soccer two steps ahead of North

Bloomington North's Conference Indiana boys' soccer match at rival South was a strong marker for how much improvement the Cougars have made over the past year.

That was evident in many ways.

It was also a game that showed South is unwilling to surrender its dominance over the Cougars. It was nothing like last year's 7-0 walkover, but the 10th-ranked Panthers were as stingy as ever against North, posting the 12th shutout in what is now a 16-game win streak in the series with a workman like 2-0 win on Thursday.

"We have the talent, it's just a matter of staying composed and making the right choices throughout the game," North coach Gonzalo Sanchez said. "South's a very good team, especially on the offensive end.

"I'll give them the first half. They controlled it. The second half, though, they were definitely a lot more flustered. We had opportunities, some we didn't take, others we couldn't quite get that last pass."

It took an 80-minute effort from South (9-1, 4-0), a team missing one of its top players in the midfield in sophomore Tom Henry Berry, out for the season with a quad injury.

"Especially the second half," South coach Corbin Calvert said. "They threw the kitchen sink at us. I told them it would be like that. They weren't going to back down. First off, compliments to North and coach Gonz. I said it last year, he's going to completely turn that program around and he already has in one year. And it's only going to keep getting better.

"I told the guys. They know it's coming. It was a legit, tough game."

Pitching another shutout

North (7-4-2, 2-2), which has already won more games than all of last year, couldn't find many good shots against a defense that covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time, forcing quick decisions and off-target passes in the final third.

"We know they're a fast, aggressive team," South centerback Brayden Doyle said. "They came out fast like we expected. It was just a lot of organization and staying positive with each other.

"In an intense game like this, it's important to not get on each other and I felt like we did a really good job staying calm, staying composed and not giving them any free goals or anything like that."

Doyle and his closing speed has been a key to the back line since he was moved there during the game against Center Grove and the effect was immediate.

"Once Brayden got back there he calmed down the defense and he started moving the ball," Calvert said. "Which allows us to get it to the mid-fields to the forwards and then we just go quick."

South limited North to four shots on goal. The second-half effort was tougher than the first, as the Cougars cranked up the effort, but finding a seam and and open shot was a chore all night against Doyle, Kyston Howard, Teagan Bullock and others in front of keeper Daniel Panfilov, who made three saves.

"We stepped first to the ball and we won a lot of headers," Doyle said. "I feel like us picking up those balls out of the air was the big difference tonight."

North's best scoring chance came in the 64th minute when a corner kick found Jaafer Zaneer left of the net. He got a solid header on it, but Panfilov, in his first and only North-South game as an exchange student from Spain, came up with the save.

"It was either lack of composure or that back line, they press really hard," North forward Noah Nelson said. "They gave a lot of pressure. Either we weren't ready for it or credit to them, too, we just need to keep our composure in the final third, know when to take our shots and know when to pass it."

Quick goal lifts South

North was pushing forward early but never got any clean looks. South did as Joe DeGiorgio slipped behind the defense and scored just 9:30 minutes into the game.

"I feel like the first 10 minutes of the game, it was intense," DeGiorgio said. "We were kind of sloppy and I got one through. And I feel like me scoring set the tone for the rest of the game."

North's defense played with fire a bit after that, giving up a couple of dangerous chances, along with four corner kicks. But five saves by Dylan Stegemoller kept it a 1-0 game by halftime. A big step forward for the Cougars.

"It definitely showed our resilience," Nelson said. "Last year, they scored one, then a bunch. This year, we didn't lose our heads as much. We kept playing because this year, we knew we really had a shot to beat them."

But South eventually got it's insurance goal with North pressing forward, looking for the equalizer.

A takeaway set up Landon Ryner with a short piece of real estate to cover and few North defenders to obstruct his run. He was off like a flash down the left flank and angled toward the goal. As Stegemoller came out to meet him high in the box, Ryner deftly slipped the ball to his left and into the goal with just under 20 minutes remaining.

"We move so much better and we've done that all season," Calvert said. "Just back post run, playing it over, cutting into the middle, overlap. I just want a really quick offense that moves the ball. And Landon, Joe, Etienne (Leykin), they can all finish."

Stegemoller finished with seven saves, giving North a fighting chance.

"He had some great saves," Sanchez said, noting a tough one on a free kick from just outside the box in the first half. "That might be one of his best games."

Fight to the finish

The Panthers' tired but there was enough gas in the tank to finish the trip.

"We had four or five really good looks the first half," Calvert said. "We got really tired. It hurts that we lost Tom Henry. He would start and I would be subbing Janne (Blessmann) and Aviv (Sarraf) in the middle. Now I have to start Janne and we don't have a whole lot of depth there in the middle.

"It's good for them because we've got to play Center Grove again and Columbus North on Tuesday for a conference championship. So we need to start digging deep late into games. It was a good test for us."

As it was for North.

"It definitely shows how much our team has grown," North forward Noah Nelson said. "I still don't think we showed our full potential. They had two that slipped through. We had a lot of chances in the second half and hopefully, if we meet again in sectionals, I think we can convert on some of those."

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X (Twitter) @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Doyle, defense keep Bloomington South boys' soccer step ahead of North