For 40 minutes Thursday night, the Columbus High School boys soccer team looked lethargic, tentative and generally out of sorts. The scoreboard reflected it, as visiting Louisville held a 4-1 lead.
But the Wildcats learned that no lead is safe with Destin Poindexter on the field.
The freshman striker scored three of his four goals after halftime to power the Falcons to a wild 5-4 win over the Wildcats at the Columbus High School Sports Complex.
The winning goal came after the scoreboard clock stopped ticking, unofficially with 2 minutes remaining. The Falcons, who had just tied it during the 77th minute on Poindexter’s third goal, frantically worked to complete their comeback.
In the final minute, Poindexter found himself alone against the Wildcats keeper.
“I was like, it’s 4-4, we don’t need to go into penalty kicks,” he said. “We can just go ahead and win it.”
And win it he did, setting off a huge celebration among the small but boisterous Falcons cheering section and on the Columbus bench, which was left to wait anxiously for the referee’s final whistle.
It was a scene totally unimaginable at halftime, except maybe to Columbus coach Joseph Richardson.
“I knew that they could play better, and I actually told them that if you go out and play like you were coached to play, you play more aggressive, you play like you want to win, and we’ll win 5-4,” he said.
“And we got up here in the huddle (after the game) and I was like, ‘What did I tell y’all? What did I tell y’all the final score was going to be if you came out and played like I knew you could play?’“.
While not happy with the first half, Richardson also understood it.
“We played a full game last night against West Point,” he said. “They came out tired, and I think senior night kind of took their attention away. They came out flat, tired, distracted.”
The Falcons looked especially flat defending free kicks. Three of the Wildcats’ four goals came on direct kicks, including a 35-yarder by sophomore Ceidrick Hunt that found the upper right corner in the 29th minute to make it 2-1.
Louisville’s first goal came on a rebound after a free kick, and the fourth goal, just 2 minutes before halftime, came on a free kick that rolled through a crowded box to find the net.
In between, Poindexter’s first goal, on a 2-on-1 situation, had tied the game at 1-1.
“I’ve been playing since I was 4,” said Poindexter, one of the few Falcons with a strong soccer background. “It’s my favorite sport. I play baseball and football, but I love soccer more than anything. Running is fun.”
That goal was about the only fun the Falcons had during the first half, but they seemed to recharge their batteries during the intermission. Less than a minute into the second half, Poindexter knocked in a rebound to cut the Louisville lead to 4-2.
The Falcons spent the next 20 minutes largely in the Louisville half of the field but with nothing to show for it. Shots rolled just wide of the net, nobody could get a foot on loose balls in the box, and several corner kicks failed to produce quality shots.
“Just bad luck,” Richardson said. “We’re still a very young program. I’ve got four players who are juniors or seniors. We’re just young. And usually the first time half of these young men have touched a ball is when they come to us.”
But midway through the second half, the Falcons pulled within one on a corner kick, sort of. Rather than deliver the ball into the box, freshman Francisco Martinez tapped the ball out to a wide-open sophomore Cameron Kidd, who sent a perfect ball in front of the Louisville goal.
“They kept giving us empty space right here, so we had to take advantage of that,” Richardson said. “I tell the guys all the time, use the empty space.”
It was Michael Mosley, one of the two seniors on the Columbus roster, who drove it home, cutting the lead to 4-3 during the 60th minute.
It took another 17 minutes before Poindexter scored from close range to tie the game and set the stage for his game-winning goal. He had scored three the night before against West Point and had five of the Falcons’ six goals in a win over Winona.
“I can’t do it without the amazing team we have and the amazing coaches: coach Richardson, coach (Jacob) Brownlee, coach (Tyler) Armstead, all of them,” Poindexter said.
The win pushes the Falcons’ record to 6-10, and while they might not be ready to challenge New Hope for supremacy in Class 5A, Region 4, they appear to have good things in their future.
“Around here you’ve got Caledonia, you’ve got Amory, you’ve got New Hope, and their players, a lot of them play travel ball,” Richardson said. “They’re experienced before they get here. I’ve been here six years, and every year we just find little ways to get better.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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Columbus High School boys soccer players celebrate the Falcons' come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Louisville on Thursday night in Columbus. Tom Rysinski/Dispatch Staff
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