New Palestine High School

Paxton Holmes tallied a hat trick Thursday, leading the New Palestine boys soccer team to a 5-1 victory over visiting Franklin Central. All of the scoring took place in the second half after Dragons goalkeeper Colt Pratt made a number of outstanding saves in the opening 40 minutes to keep the game scoreless. It didn't take long for the Dragons to pounce after halftime. In the 46th minute, Cole Christopher received a long ball, dribbled into the box and laid the ball off for Holmes, who fired a near-post shot past the FC goalkeeper to break the scoreless deadlock. Four minutes later, Holmes had the brace, taking a feed from Holden Hughes and scoring on a long shot to double the lead. In the 53rd minute, Christopher took a long feed from Noah Diaz de Leon and scored in tight to extend the lead to 3-0, tallying three goals in a seven-minute span. Holmes then scored the hat trick goal in the 70th minute. FC, pushing forward, drew a goal back, but the Dragons added another when Christopher sent a free kick into the box, which found Diaz de Leon in the mixer for an exclamation-point goal. In addition to Holmes' hat trick, Christopher had a goal and two assists. Diaz de Leon had a goal and an assist. The Dragons are now 3-1 on the season. They next play Saturday at Lawrence Central. The Dragon JV fell 3-1. Max Shearer scored for NP.