JEFFERSONVILLE – New Albany advanced to the Class 3A boys soccer sectional final with a 6-2 victory over Bedford North Lawrence during the semifinal on Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs will face rival Floyd Central, a 4-0 winner over Jeffersonville in the first semifinal, in the championship on Saturday afternoon.
Finn Railey scored two goals and added three assists for the Bulldogs, who also posted a 3-0 win over the Stars during the regular-season meeting on Sept. 1.
“We made the decision to change up our formation and come out aggressive offensively,” BNL coach Ryan Otis said. “We knew this was high risk and we gave up some early goals. On the flip side we had our best offensive movement of the season and created several chances.“
New Albany scored four times in the first half. Ollie Dickman converted a Railey pass just five minutes into the action, and Jack Moutardier converted another Railey assist only six minutes later. Dickman scored again (via Railey’s third assist) at the 20-minute mark, and Railey found the net just one minute later.
The Stars struck on an Adriano Sullivan penalty kick with 2:32 left in the half.
In the second half, New Albany went up 5-1 when Railey scored off a corner kick. BNL came back with a goal by Scotty Tipton (off a Sullivan crossing pass) midway through the final frame. New Albany’s Yahir Noverson had the final goal with 7:40 left.
“The boys competed the whole game,” Otis said. “I’m proud they didn’t give up and kept fighting. The biggest issue we had was just keeping up with the speed of the game. We will have to work on that for next year. We’re sad to see our seniors go, but they had a good four years.”
BNL closed the season with a 6-9-1 record.
In the other semifinal, Cole Jones had two goals and an assists for the Highlanders.
