Yesterday evening, the Thunderbolts boys Varsity soccer team hosted fellow GWOC school Xenia Buccaneers in the opening round of the OHSAA postseason tournament. Xenia would open the scoring after a defender played a great over the top ball and found his center forward who found himself 1 on 1 with Northmont’s goalkeeper Nick Newman. Newman came out to attempt to stop the onrushing attacker but ultimately was unsuccessful and Northmont found themselves down 1-0.

The Bolts would string together some good chances after Xenia’s goal but couldn’t quite manage to put the ball in the back of the net. Xenia would go into the break up 1-0. But thanks to a fiery 2nd half from the Bolts and goals from team captains Kyle Knerr and Brandon Morton, the Bolts bounced back and defeated Xenia 2-1. Throughout the 2nd half, Northmont constantly pressured the Buccaneers goal and Xenia simply had no response and would eventually capitulate.

With this victory the team advances to the 2nd round where they will travel to take on Vandalia-Butler on Thursday, October 18th at 7:00 PM. From there, the winner of the match will likely take on Carroll High school who are currently 17-0-0 in the 3rd round on Monday, October 22nd at 7:00 PM at Centerville High School Memorial Stadium.

Story by Jordan Diehl