text: No. 7 South's lucky number in sectional title game
  There was nothing lucky about number seven for the Bloomington South boys' soccer team.
  The No. 14 Panthers scored twice in the first 10 minutes en route to a 7-0 victory over Bedford North Lawrence in the 3A Bloomington North boys' soccer sectional championship game, their seventh consecutive sectional crown.
  "It's just tradition, because this is our seventh year in a row, and we like to keep the tradition going, keep winning," South senior Carson Adams said. "Our goal is always to get to regional and further."
  The Cinderella Stars were hoping the glass slipper would still fit after wins over Terre Haute South and Bloomington North en route to the final, but the clock struck midnight against the Panthers.
  "Proud of them. I think we ran out of some steam, and we ran into a team that was a lot better than us," BNL coach Logan Jackson said. "I think that showed, and that's OK. Sometimes there are just better teams out there."
  Adams got South (11-2-1) off and running in the eighth minute when Bedford goalkeeper Evan Payne couldn't corral a loose ball near the end line, and Logan Wilson fired a centering ball that found Adams alone in front of an empty net.
  Just a minute later, Grant Yeagley buried a shot to make it 2-0.
  "We had a talk before the game, and (coach) just told us that even though we beat them in the regular season, we can't come into this thinking it's already won," Adams said. "We have to lay it out on the field, give it everything we've got.
  "I think (the early goals) were good to get everybody focused and on the same page. The two goals gave us the momentum we needed to pour in the other five."
  Adams played the role of setup man in the 16th minute, finding Gabe Lika alone at the back post to make it 3-0, followed by a give and go from Adams to Alex Fox and back to Adams for the goal in the 38th minute.
  Lika then set up Fox for a goal just 39 seconds before the half, making it 5-0 and leaving little doubt as to the outcome despite Payne collecting five of his eight saves in the frame.
  "It's one of those games where Bedford is on a confidence high, playing well and beat two good teams," South coach Kevin Sparks said. "One of those moments where if we come out flat, it's going to be a game. The longer it takes us to score, the more confident they're going to get. Our goal was to get one as quick as possible. We got the first goal and started settling down.
  "As we got more goals, we kept settling down, and I like that because we're simplifying things. That was our big talk at halftime, just play the simple game. When you play that way, you create those goalscoring opportunities that are beautiful — the 1-2s, the nice layoffs — and that's how we want to play."
  The Stars' lone scoring chance of the opening half was a free kick from nearly 65 yards by Seth Sherfick that took one bounce in the box and forced Panther goalkeeper Giovanni Alicea to punch the ball over the bar.
  BNL (7-7-1) finished the game with just three total shots, forcing Alicea to make two saves, but still carries some momentum into the offseason.
  "Beating North, showing some tenacity against Terre Haute South, that's stuff we want to end the season on," Jackson said. "It's not fun to lose 7-0, but that's part of it.
  "They battled the whole game, though. They really didn't give up."
  South added on early in the second half, as Adams completed the hat trick and Yeagley converted a penalty kick to round out the scoring in the 50th minute.
  The Panthers' defense held strong to back the seven goals with a seventh straight shutout on a night they won their seventh straight sectional.
  "It is a lucky seven, I guess," Sparks said.
  Bedford North Lawrence (7-7-1) 0 0—0
  Bloomington South (11-2-1) 5 2—7
  BS: Carson Adams 3 goals, assist; Grant Yeagley 2 goals; Gabe Lika goal, assist; Logan Wilson assist; Alex Fox goal, assist; Giovanni Alicea 2 saves.