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Columbia's Nathan Matsubara (5) gets control of the ball near the Eastside goal during the first half of Thursday's game. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)
After a pair of ties in its two most recent games, Columbia seemingly needed someone or something on which to take out its frustrations.
Enter winless Eastside on a cold, windy night in Lake City.
The Tigers used Thursday’s contest against the Rams as a “get-right” game, scoring three first-half goals while holding the line en route to a 4-0 win. It marks the first time this season Columbia (3-3-4) has shut out its opponent while winning. The only other time the Tigers forced a zero on the scoreboard? A 0-0 draw against Eastside (0-8-3) back on Nov. 28.
“We definitely needed (that),” CHS head coach Ed Turner said. “We already knew that, coming into the beginning of the year, that the front part of the schedule was going to be super tough.”
Forward Nathan Matsubara netted a brace in the first half with a pair of goals along with an assist while his teammates mostly kept the ball in the attacking third throughout the night. Junior Cody Bass also scored in the first half while senior Nick Christman helped with a pair of assists.
Matsubara’s second goal of the night nearly wasn’t his at all. After goalkeeper Robby Shotwell cleared the ball away on a goal kick, the ball took a high bounce over an Eastside defender’s head, eventually even skipping over goalie Shiven Sharma as well. Matsubara negotiated his way past those two to eventually get a hip on the ball, guiding it about six yards into the vacant net for a 3-0 lead.
“The goalkeeper tried to boot it, and it kind of hit off of him,” Turner said.
The second half saw the Tigers content to chew up clock while still possessing the ball on the Rams’ side of the field. That effort culminated in a chance at the net for senior Wesley Wingate who, after corralling a ricochet off Sharma, guided the ball into the top right corner for the final score.
Turner said with that early stretch of tough games behind his team, his guys are ready to perform to the team’s standards moving forward.
“We know we can play well,” he said. “We just have to minimize our mistakes. If we can minimize our mistakes, we actually might have a much different record.”
Columbia will next host rival Suwannee on Monday at 7:20 p.m.