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MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Kellen Delaney hit the game-winner with 5:01 to go to lift the Columbus Catholic soccer team to a 3-2 win over Gresham/Bowler in a WIAA Division 4 regional final on Saturday at Griese Park.
The regional championship is Columbus Catholic’s seventh in a row.
The two Central Wisconsin Conference rivals combined for three goals in the first nine minutes of the game.
Gresham/Bowler scored on a penalty kick at the 7:47 mark, Tom Nystrom answered with a PK 20 seconds later, and Zach Olson scored for the Dons 35 seconds after that to give Columbus a 2-1 lead.
That lead held until Gresham/Bowler tied the game in the 59th minute.
Delaney, off an assist from Dylan Porter, knocked home what proved to be the game-winner at 84:59 and the Dons kept G/B off the board the rest of the way.
Wyatt Drexler had five saves in goal for the Dons.
Columbus Catholic (16-1-3) will play at Acradia (13-2-3) in a Division 4 sectional semifinal on Thursday at 4 p.m. That “1” in the loss column for the Dons was against Arcadia, 3-2, back on Sept. 14 at Griese Park.
This will be the fourth year in a row the two teams will meet in the sectional semifinals. The Raiders knocked off Columbus Catholic in a shootout last season, and won 7-5 in 2016. The Dons beat Arcadia in 2017, 3-0. The winner of Thursday’s game will play in a sectional final at Nekoosa on Saturday, Nov. 2, against the winner of Washburn/Bayfield/South Shore and Northland Pines.
Dons 3, Gophers 2
Gresham/Bowler 1 1 – 2
Columbus Catholic 2 1 – 3
First half: 1. GB, penalty kick, 7:47; 2. CC, Tom Nystrom (penalty kick), 8:07; 3. CC, Zach Olson (Dylan Porter), 8:42.
Second half: 4. GB, 58:27; 5. CC, Kellen Delaney (Porter), 84:59.
Saves: CC, Wyatt Drexler 5.
Records: Gresham/Bowler 10-10; Columbus Catholic 16-1-3.