Three Columbus Express teams made it to their respected Indiana Soccer Cup Final, but all three fell short.
2005 Boys Orange fall in State Championship
The 2005 Boys Orange team made it to the Indiana Soccer State Cup finale but ran out of gas against the buzzsaw of Indiana Fire Academy falling 0-6.
A day earlier, CESC played in arguably the game of the tournament with a come-from-behind victory over Indy Phoenix. After conceding a penalty and an early second-half goal, CESC’s hopes of making the finals was slim. Down 0-2 with three minutes remaining in regulation, Nathan Imlay found Misaki Takemoto at the back post to cut the lead in half. Ninety seconds later, Imlay was fouled and an Aidan Whitley free-kick weaved through a scrum where Christian Cardoso snuck in the tying goal.
In the second period of extra time, Whitley bent a free kick into the net to catapult the once-finished Express team into the championship.
2007 Girls Orange edged in the Challenge Cup finale
Holding a two-goal lead at halftime, CESC was unable to stay ahead and lost to Fusion 2-4 in the Challenge Cup championship. Sammie Kegerreis started the game off by scoring two goals in ninety seconds off of assists from Grace Merritt and Avery Baker. Fusion scored four unanswered goals breaking CESC’s streak of shutouts in the tournament.
2009 Girls Orange drop the title in extra time
Columbus Express 09 Girls Orange team clawed its way to the finals of Indiana Soccer’s Challenge Cup but fell in extra time to Indy Premier 2-3.
