‘Lucky’ Lake Central
Noldin scores 2 goals as Indians escape with win against Noll in first-round game
Lake Central’s Jake Noldin was a central figure in both the productivity and the extracurricular activity of the Class 3A Highland Sectional on Tuesday.
The junior forward scored two goals as the Indians held off Bishop Noll for a 4-3 win in a first-round game dotted by a scuffle between the teams.
With 35:35 showing on the second-half clock, less than a minute after Noldin netted his first goal to give Lake Central (9-7) a 3-1 lead, tempers flared and a fight broke out.
Players on both teams appeared to throw punches. Each team received a red card and played with 10 for the duration. It took several minutes to settle down the situation.
“I just saw people running, and everything was a little hectic,” Noldin said. “I kind of blacked out. Things got a little crazy. It was unlucky we got one taken off, but lucky it was only one and we were still able to win the game.
“I just want to protect my teammates no matter what. They’re my brothers at all costs. I’m not going to let somebody do something to them.”
After edging Bishop Noll (12-2), ranked No. 20 in the state coaches poll this week, 2019 state runner-up Lake Central will play Morton in a sectional semifinal on Wednesday.
In another first-round game on Tuesday, the Governors (3-1) extended their abbreviated season with a 3-0 win against Highland (7-5-2). Ricardo Torres scored on a penalty kick, and Jesus Montes and Oscar Huerta each added a goal after the Trojans received a red card.
“The extracurriculars is unacceptable,” first-year Lake Central coach Shane Cloutier said. “It’s not who we are. I’m not proud of it. We’ll watch the tape of it. We’ll dissect it.
“I believe they started the action. We’ll take care of what we need to take care of, but we also have a game to play (Wednesday). We have to stay focused.”
Bishop Noll coach Quinn Cloghessy offered his perspective on the skirmish.
“I’m a purist of this game,” Cloghessy said. “I don’t like seeing anything like that. But these are teenage boys. They’re competitors. Tempers flared. We’ve all been there before.
“I’m not saying anybody was right, I’m not saying anybody was wrong. It’s just things like that happen. Because we’re on a stage like this, the microscope is over us. … It’s just the nature of the game, obviously overflowing to something that was unwanted from both sides.”
Miller Knestrict gave Lake Central a 1-0 lead six minutes into the game. Sam Egnatz made it 2-0 with 25-plus minutes left in the first half.
With 18:22 left before halftime, Bruno Zamora converted the first of his two penalty-kick goals to get Bishop Noll on the board.
Noldin scored with 36-plus minutes left and again with less than 25 minutes to go to make it 4-1.
“He’s a warrior,” Cloutier said. “He’s a leader. He’s a fighter. We’re lucky to have him, and he had a great game.”
Miguel Gonzalez scored with 23-plus minutes left, and Zamora added his second penalty kick with 21:39 on the clock.
The loss marked the end of an
era for Bishop Noll, which won the 2018 Class 2A state title with a 1-0 win over Indianapolis Ritter. Zamora scored on an assist from Jake Wichlinski in that game.
Wichlinski, now a senior forward, is the program’s career and singleseason leader in goals, and Zamora, a senior midfielder, is the program’s career and single-season leader in assists. Senior defender Noah Reid also started on that championship team.
“I couldn’t be more proud of coaching these boys,” Cloghessy said. “From the time I took over when these seniors were sophomores, they listened to everything I said. They never questioned it.
“I knew they would bounce back and do whatever they could to make a game of it. I had no doubts we had that in our locker.”