COLUMBUS — Despite trips to the state boys soccer tournament the past two seasons and a silver ball, Columbus has never won a conference title in 15 years.
Mike Poser may have gone a long way toward rectifying that Thursday afternoon.
Poser had the good fortune of watching a deflected ball land directly on his right foot near the top of the penalty area. He bent a low shot inside the right post for the only goal in the Cardinals' 1-0 Capitol Conference win over visiting Lodi.
"I expected Columbus to be really good after making it to state the past two years," Lodi coach Vince Padilla said. "It was a very even match and possession was very even.
"It was the type of match that comes down to one team getting a pretty good opportunity and they finally got it."
With the win, Columbus (3-0, 1-0 Capitol) has the inside track on the Blue Devils (3-3-1, 0-1), who have beaten the Cards each of the last two years. While the shots were even in the wet conditions, Columbus generated better chances for most of the game.
"I'd say the quality of chances were definitely in our favor," Columbus coach Jason Adams said. "If they're willing to possess the ball at midfield, we're willing to allow them to do that.
"When we got it, we pressed them hard."
Lodi's Ben Ibinger got a free kick at the top of the penalty area in the 16th minute but pulled it wide left. Will Keener of Columbus made a heady play by taking a free kick at the right top edge of the penalty area quickly to induce a yellow card on Bryce Ryan, but when he retried it, he put it just over the crossbar.
Columbus found its rhythm late in the half through striker Charlie Calvo, a Spanish exchange student from Madrid. He forced Lodi keeper Jason Scott into a great reflex save in the 29th minute and parried off another close blast just before halftime.
"He's a good player," Padilla said of Calvo.
That led to a corner kick, where Columbus did everything but clear the goal line with the ensuing scramble. In the midst of the havoc, Calvo tagged the crossbar.
"Part of me knew this would be a 1-0 game with chances few and far between," Adams said. "It was a messy game so I'm thinking 'Was that our only chance?'"
As Columbus adjusted and applied better pressure through better use of the flanks, the goal finally arrived. Adams panicked but Poser didn't, as he collected himself and got space with a first touch before slotting the ball in the lower corner.
"I thought 'What is he doing?' but I had the angle from the other side of the field," Adams said. "Then he hit the back of the net and I thought 'Great job.'
"We really couldn't do much in the midfield in the first half at all. We focused more on zoning defensively and we stopped chasing them."
Lodi nearly equalized less than three minutes later when a cross squirted through the goal mouth. Beau Berry punctuated his fine afternoon by making a saving tackle to block the point-blank drive of the Blue Devils' Nick Moxon.
"It's very hard to get inside Beau and Jason (Anderson)," Adams said. "If it got through, it was going in."
T.J. Francis kept a clean sheet despite trying to secure the wet ball all afternoon. He made 10 stops in goal and Columbus can start thinking ahead.
"Our first goal is to win conference," Adams said. "I've coached nine years and we've never come close to a conference title."
Columbus visits Watertown Luther Prep Tuesday.
COLUMBUS 1, LODI 0
Lodi 0 0 - 0
Columbus 0 1 - 1
Second half: C - Poser, 55:49.
Shots: L 10, C 10. Saves: L (Scott) 8, C (Francis) 10.