RIVERSIDE — The Carroll boys soccer team shut out the Butler Aviators on a blustery Saturday afternoon, Oct. 12 at Spoerl-Bartlett stadium. The Patriots’ senior day was the icing on the cake of their undefeated season, taking the victory over the Aviators 5-0.
Carroll’s Mitch Johnson struck first, scoring 10 minutes in. With 11 minutes remaining in the half, Brandon Osterholt took an initial shot. A Butler defender was able to deflect it, but the ball smacked off of the goalie’s back and rebounded between the posts for a point to Carroll. Captain Charlie Thompson of Carroll also scored unassisted in the last three minutes of the first half.
In the second half, junior Daniel Irumva centered the ball on an aggressive push to senior Conner Osterholt, who scored Carroll’s fourth goal with 30 minutes remaining. Carroll’s fifth goal of the afternoon was awarded to Ben Del Cid, as Irumva – again on the assist – smacked him in the face with the ball at such an angle that the ball rebounded between the posts for the score.
Carroll’s victory provides them with much-needed momentum going into the tournament season. Carroll coach Scott Molfenter expressed pride on behalf of his team, particularly the seniors. “I was happy with the performance today. Got a lot of legs in, got a lot of guys playing to celebrate senior day. Butler’s a nice opponent to play against, they play a good style of soccer. Proud of the guys, they’ve kind of been playing with a bullseye on their back all year. Really proud of the shutout, that was the biggest thing for us today, not giving up any goals, especially soft goals, and a lot of the guys got in on the scoring.”
When asked about his team’s outlook for next year, Coach Molfenter was optimistic about his underclassmen’s ability to step up.
“I’d like to say, the seniors, we’re proud of this group. They’ve worked very hard. We’ve got a great younger group; our JV team is very young this year. Hopefully we’re able to fill some of those holes these guys are going to leave. Every year you reload a little bit and see what you got, and you never know until August rolls around what you’re truly going to look like,” he said.
