Lakeland Christian blanks Culver, advances to sectional semis

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

ARGOS — Brody Miller, Hudson Pals and Zaiden Miller each scored in the second half, and the Lakeland Christian boys soccer team shut out Culver for the second time this season in recording a 3-0 win in a Class 1A, Sectional 36 quarterfinal at Argos’ Eugene Snyder Field Wednesday.

Lakeland Christian held an 18-3 advantage in shots on goal, forcing Culver’s acrobatic goalkeeper Owen Tanner to make a series of lunging, diving saves.

Lakeland Christian also maintained a 9-3 edge in corner kicks.

Lakeland Christian improved to 10-5-2 and earned a semifinal date with Winamac at 7 p.m. tonight. Winamac scored twice in the second half to knock off Caston 3-2 in the other quarterfinal.

Culver, who won one game last year, finished 4-10-2. The Cavaliers also lost 4-0 to Lakeland Christian in Winona Lake Sept. 15 in their regular season meeting. Freshman Luke Clemens scored all four goals in the first meeting, but Culver held off him off the board this time.

But it was two other freshmen – Brody Miller and Pals – who did score.

Brody Miller’s goal opened the scoring with 35:03 left on a rebound after Tanner stopped his first shot from inside the 18. The ball deflected back to Miller, who found an open section of net to Tanner’s left.

Pals made it 2-0 with 28:05 left, heading home a Zaiden Miller corner kick.

Clemens, who leads Lakeland Christian with 23 goals, made his offensive contribution on a run from the right flank. He was able to turn the corner on a Cavalier defender and draw Tanner out of the cage. He then fed Zaiden Miller to his left, who tapped a shot into the open net to make it 3-0 with 25:04 left.

All three of Culver’s shots came in the second half, two of which came when Culver was behind by three goals.

Culver has not won a sectional game since 2017. Their lone sectional title came in 1994.

Lakeland Christian and Winamac played to a 1-1 tie on Sept. 26.