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MOVING
THE BALL—Norwell Knights senior midfielder Caleb Fiechter (6) defends
the ball against Huntington North defender Andy White during Monday's
sectional soccer opener at Blackford High School. (Photo by Paul
Beitler)
By PAUL BEITLER
Sports Editor
HARTFORD CITY — With a light drizzle falling, the Norwell Knights boys soccer team wanted to send a message Monday to the rest of the Blackford Bruins’ Sectional 14 field that they were ready to step up and take control.
Forwards Jared DeArmond and Aaron Klansek scored two goals apiece as the Knights teamed up to oust the Huntington North Vikings 4-0 in the opening match of the IHSAA sectional.
Norwell coach Jeremy Steele wanted the Knights to score early and set the tone for the match and not let the Vikings gain any momentum.
The Knights at least convinced the Vikings that they were ready to defend their 2004 sectional title.
“They were better than we were,” said Vikings coach Tim Becker. “They were more aggressive and they did the things they were supposed to do. They were not selfish. They played as a team and we play as individuals. A team is going to beat individuals every time. We have some skilled players, but we’re not a very good team.”
Steele had made some lineup adjustments last week when the Knights strolled past Heritage.
Before that match, the Knights had suffered back-to-back losses to Columbia City and Blackhawk Christian, which sent a signal to the Knights that they had to increase their intensity before the state tournament.
Steele moved Klansek from midfielder to forward and the combination of DeArmond and Klansek at forward has been lethal to the opposing team.
“I am pleased with the combination. They responded and reacted well to each other,” Steele noted.
The switch also allowed the Knights to bring senior Caleb Fiechter off the bench more and utilize him at midfield where he is a strong asset for the team.
Fiechter was the 12th man on the team, but now by being reinserted at midfield, he has picked up the Knights with his relentless play and distribution of the ball to the scorers.
Norwell, now 10-5-2, will play Jay County at 11 a.m. Saturday in the first semifinal match. Jay County defeated Bellmont 4-1 in the second match Monday night.
The second semifinal match will be played at 1 p.m. Feeding into that match will be the two matches from Wednesday’s bottom bracket. Marion Lakeview Christian and Blackford will meet at 5:30 p.m., followed by South Adams and Marion at 7:30.
The sectional championship is set to be played at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Knights wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. DeArmond scored the first goal with an assist from Klansek. Then DeArmond returned the favor as he set up Klansek’s goal to give Norwell a quick 2-0 advantage.
After jumping on the Vikings, the Knights’ play became ragged. However, the Vikings were still unable to establish a strong challenge as Norwell’s defense held up.
“We got away from our game plan for about 25 minutes,” said Steele, “but at halftime we talked about our objective and we were able to come back out focused in the second half.”
Responding to the halftime discussion, the Knights came out with pressure on the Vikings and DeArmond scored again with a sharp pass from Brandon Shearer.
The last goal by Klansek was the product of a sharp pass from Andrew Gerz and Viking goalkeeper Kynan Pennington never had a chance.
“We were sharp when we were playing hard. I was pleased with our overall performance throughout the match,” said Steele.
Norwell goalkeeper Jamie Feldheiser came up with four saves in recording the shutout. Pennington finished the match with 11 stops.
Huntington North ended its season with a 9-8 record.
“We only have two seniors on the team and we were playing without three starters, but we had good enough players. But we did not play as a team,” added Becker.
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