A lightning delay at halftime Wednesday night didn’t interrupt the rhythm of Jordan Andric.
Within the first four minutes of the second half, the junior midfielder scored three goals in the span of a little more than two minutes to help Munster post a 6-0 Northwest Crossroads Conference win against visiting Andrean.
“He was tuned in,” Mustangs coach Jim Prasopoulos said of Andric. “He was in the right place, he was following up shots. Collectively, the midfield group did a really good job.”
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The game was called with 23:01 left because of lightning and was played largely through heavy rain. The win helped the Class 2A No. 20 Mustangs (10-3-2, 5-1) gain a share of the conference title. The 59ers (8-4-2, 5-1) entered having clinched at least a share and needed a win for the outright championship.
The Mustangs have won nine NCC titles in the 10 seasons of the conference’s existence, including seven outright. In addition to this season, they shared the championship in 2013.
Munster finished second to the 59ers in 2012, the only season it did not win at least part of the title.
To maintain their run, the Mustangs rebounded from last week’s 3-2 loss at Highland.
“We’re pretty proud of the guys,” Prasopoulos said. “We were highly disappointed with the game we lost to Highland. We did not bring that kind of game there and Highland was really motivated. We had to refocus from that loss.”
Munster did so with a strong stretch of practice, and splitting two games over the weekend at a tournament in Zionsville.
“We came together as a team, talked about a lot of things,” Prasopoulos said. “We really harped on the fact we have to be on the same page and trust each other.”
The conversations carried over into Wednesday. The Mustangs controlled the game, outshooting the 59ers 11-0.
Munster took a 1-0 lead with 21 minutes left in the half when Nate Kekelik headed home a cross from Eric Salzeider from the right wing. The Mustangs made it 2-0 with less than 14 minutes left when Scott Fischer finished a corner kick from Elian Magana.
After an extended halftime because of the lightning, Andric stepped to the forefront.
A little more than a minute into the second half, he scored off an assist from Salzeider. Less than a minute later, those two combined for another goal. A little more than a minute later, Andric converted a rebound off a long shot by Laith Srour.
Jacob Carlson added a goal on a free kick with less than 26 minutes left before the game was called.
Salzeider finished with three assists.
“He has some strengths and he just needs to use them,” Prasopoulos said of Salzeider. “He’s a fast player and if he’s just decisive with what he wants to do, he’ll do fine.
“I’m extremely pleased with how we responded. Let’s just see if we can be consistent with this. We need to keep the focus there, and we have to keep working and not take any team for granted.”
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff