CHESTERTON | Chesterton's play in the second half against LaPorte carried the Trojans to the Duneland Conference championship.
The Times No. 5 Trojans scored three goals in the second half to turn a one-goal deficit into a 3-1 victory Wednesday. The title is the third in school history and the first since 2006. The Trojans (12-2-2, 6-1) share the championship with Lake Central.
"Getting a share of (the conference title) is special," Chesterton coach James Sensibaugh said. "I'm proud of these kids. It was a goal of ours. It was something we talked about, and it's nice to get that."
Billy Biehl scored the eventual game-winner late in the 52nd minute. Ben Molnar made a 35-yard run along the sideline that drew two defenders and crossed the ball back into the middle of the field. Biehl took the pass and drilled a shot past Slicer keeper Mark Nelson from 12 yards out.
"He did what he needed to do," Sensibaugh said of Biehl. "The ball was played back to him, which I thought it was a great pass. We talked about net passing the ball, and that's what he did. He didn't try to spank it too hard. He just put it where he needed to."
Chesterton's John Morris tied the game 1-1 just 1:37 into the second half. Morris took a pass from Jonathan Blake and put a shot from the middle of the box past Nelson.
"The momentum did change; you could see that," Sensibaugh said. "It seemed like we kind of lightened up a little bit."
Kody Lobsiger made it 3-1 with a goal in the 61st minute. Lobsiger took a loose ball and scored from 15 yards away.
The Trojans, who finished with a 21-13 edge in shots, outshot LaPorte (9-7, 2-5) 16-8 in the second half.
"We dove in a little bit on defense in the second half, and we weren't doing that in the first half," LaPorte coach Chris Buresh said.
Zach McCoy put the No. 8 Slicers out front in the 33rd minute. Off a LaPorte corner kick, the ball came out to Angel Garcia, and he passed it to McCoy, who took a shot from 25 yards out. The ball beat Chesterton keeper Jacob Garmany inside the post.
"He's definitely a quality player, and he can notch those in from there," Buresh said of McCoy.
Jacob Garmany made four saves for the Trojans to get the win, while Nelson made four saves for the Slicers.
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