New Palestine High School

Elliott Canova tallied four goals and Cohen Wintin three Tuesday, leading the New Palestine boys soccer team to an emphatic 8-0 win over host Mooresville. The Dragons struck quickly for three goals in a six-minute span of the first half and controlled the game from there. The season's first goal came in the 24th minute, as Paxton Holmes dribbled into the box, and while battling a defender, laid the ball off to Wintin for the finish. Two minutes later, Cody Crawmer was fouled in the box from behind, drawing a penalty. Canova buried the shot to extend the lead to 2-0. In the 29th minute, Holmes and Cole Christopher led an attack which drew another penalty, which Canova again buried to put the Dragons ahead 3-0. In the interim, Crawmer thwarted the Pioneers' best chance of the half with an alert defensive save on a loose ball in front of the cage. The Dragons nearly added another in the opening half, as Canova hit the post on a 30-yard shot. The rebound richocheted in front and was put back off the crossbar before the Pioneers cleared. Canova again hit the frame in the opening minutes of the second half. Christopher followed, but was denied by a diving save. In the 43rd minute, the Dragons extended the lead to 4-0 when Christopher laid the ball off for Lennon Pottle, who buried a shot from the 18-yard line. The Dragons then poured things on. Canova tallied the hat trick with a shot in the 63rd minute on a play started by Brendan Tanksley, who won the ball in the corner and sent it across the 18 where it eventually came to Canova for the strike. In the next minute, Tanksley again won the ball at the right post and fed it across the face of goal to Wintin for the finish to push the lead to 6-0. Wintin then finished his hat trick in the 73rd minute on a feed from Eli Martin. Canova scored his fourth in the 77th minute, dribbling around a defender at the top of the box to get a clean look. Blake Bobrow had a clean sheet for the Dragons, including a penalty kick save in the 74th minute. The victory was the Dragons' biggest win since beating Yorktown 10-0 on Sept. 29, 2014. The eight goals were their most since a 9-2 victory over Whiteland Aug. 23, 2016. Canova's four-goal game was the first four-goal night since Levi Miller in 2016 against Whiteland. He and Wintin had the first hat tricks since Jon Moore tallied one Sept. 17, 2019 against Greenwood. The Dragons JV won 3-0 on goals by Mekhi McFarland, Kellen Baughn and Will Bardonner and a clean sheet by Cody Marino. The Dragons (1-0) play Yorktown in their home opener Thursday. The JV match begins at 5:30 p.m., with the varsity at 7:15 p.m.