By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – After dodging and fending off multiple attacks for the most of the second half, Bedford North Lawrence could not deflect or survive a late, final surge.
Bloomington North scored twice in the last eight minutes, with senior striker Jaafer Zaneer finishing a hat trick with the clincher, as the Cougars clawed past the Stars 4-2 on Thursday night. BNL suffered its first setback in its last six matches.
North (9-3-1) never trailed, but couldn’t pull away until a three-minute burst produced the go-ahead and put-away goals. Joe Luther’s long-range blast at 7:09, and Zaneer’s free kick from the top of the penalty box with 4:12 left, were the difference makers.
“That’s the way we should have played the entire time,” North coach Gonzalo Sanchez said. “We weren’t playing to our speed. We definitely had more scoring opportunities in the second half.”
Zaneer made his count. He drove home the first goal at 38:35 in the first half, then got his second with a left-wing rocket at 28:01. But BNL (7-5-1) answered both of those. Austin Harms were airborne for a header off Adriano Sullivan’s lofted free kick at 32:31 in the first half, and the Stars pulled even again on J.D. Russell’s penalty kick with 36:49 left in the second.
“We had to keep working,” BNL coach Ryan Otis said. “If we work, we can play with anybody. We showed that. When we work hard and get those hustle plays, we can play with anybody. We have the skills.
“The last couple of minutes, it got away. They caught up to us, but I’m really happy with how we played. The film on this will be great. When we press the other team, they make mistakes. We see that with us all the time. We can do that to other teams.”
Zaneer will miss Bloomington North’s next contest when he was issued a red card with 1:35 left.
BNL will visit Bloomfield on Saturday, then learn its sectional fate when the IHSAA conducts the postseason draw on Sunday.
