Second half goals against Evansville North send No. 7 Panthers on to semistate for second year in a row
SEYMOUR — For a short two-minute stretch early in the second half, Bloomington South goalkeeper Parker Nguyen took care of business on both ends of the field.
The senior came up with a couple early saves to make sure the Panthers went into the break 0-0, knowing a steady southern wind would be at their backs in the second half of their Class 3A boys soccer regional final against Evansville North on Saturday, Oct. 18. And from what he'd seen, his free kicks would sail a long way.
That's just what happened in South's 2-0 win, as his boot landed about three-quarters of the way down field, bouncing off the head of a Husky defender and across the end line for an improbable corner kick.
Nathan Orth's ensuing boot went to the far post, where North's keeper and South midfield Andrew Wiley converged. Wiley won the battle, heading the ball up in the air. It came down in front of the net, glanced off Sohrab Fazel's chest and in.
"It was a huge momentum shift," Fazel said. "After that, we all gained energy, and we were able to power through the half."
It's stretching the definition a bit, but give Nyguyen a 'hockey assist,' joked head coach Jake Kabrick after the Panthers celebrated a second straight regional for the first time since 2014-15.
"That was an insane goal kick," Fazel said.
Seconds later, Nguyen was up to his more usual duties, taking a goal away from the Huskies that would have spoiled all the momentum of the previous moment.
"That is where we've trusted Parker to make those saves," Kabrick said. "It was kind of crappy on our part. We shouldn't have let that happen. We score a goal, we have the momentum, we should have been able to hammer it down.
"It eventually got there. It shouldn't have happened, but he's ready for big moments. He's a big-moment player. Like the save he had against Martinsville. He's risen to that challenge. He has anchored the defense and let them play fearless, which allows our team to go forward in sync."
It was their last shot on goal as South recorded a fifth straight playoff shutout
"I'm really happy with my defensive line," Nguyen said. "I don't know where I'd be without them. Especially Max (Serafin Odle) and Adrian (Dusleag), they're doing really good this year."
Final four lineup for South
The seventh-ranked Panthers (17-1-3) move on to play No. 3 Carmel (16-1-3), a 2-0 winner over No. 1 Brownsburg at noon on Oct. 25 at the Martinsville Semistate.
Up north at 4 p.m. the same day, defending champ No. 5 West Lafayette Harrison (17-1-3), whose only loss is to Carmel, will play No. 18 South Bend Adams (16-2-2). The Greyhounds beat Homestead in PKs (4-3) after a 2-2 tie, and Adams also won in PKs (4-2) over Lake Central.
"We're flying right now," Fazel said. "We're playing with energy. We're playing with confidence. It's really fun to play with these guys right now."
Said Kabrick, "These guys are over the world, but we're not done. They're going to fight tooth for every trophy they can get."
GOOAAALLLL! Jared George with the cross to, guess who? Sohrab Fazel. 2-0 South, 12:19 to go pic.twitter.com/3WblKooTDc
— Jim Gordillo (@JimGordillo) October 18, 2025
Fazel doubles up again
For the second game in a row, Fazel had a two-goal outing. The first earned him the start.
His insurance goal came with 12:19 left when Jared George's cross from left to right was perfect, hitting Fazel in the middle of the box.
"That was just a beautiful pass," Fazel said. "I just aimed it left side, and it went in."
South faced a different test in the Huskies, who pressed South's usually patient backline. The Panthers had to play a little faster and a little smarter and did.
"We definitely noticed that in game film," Huskies coach Matthew Sturgeon said. "Like I told the boys, 'In the back, just sit and be patient, but up top, especially when we had three strikers press, make them make mistakes.'
"We wanted to put a ton of pressure on them. But we just didn't get them to break today."
Instead, with the Huskies up, any long balls South blasted, just bounced, rolled and sailed to the other end, eating clock.
"They wanted to press a little more than I thought they were going to. Especially once we got the first one, they didn't let us play in the back, which we adjusted to.
"We're used to swinging the ball back and forth with relative ease, but now we had to get the ball up."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: 'Assist' from goalkeeper helps South boys soccer win regional
Category: General Sports
