North’s Andrew Varns (19) and South’s Joey Weibel (3) battle for possession of the ball during Thursday’s game at South. The Panthers won, 2-1. Jeremy Hogan | Herald-Times

The South boys’ soccer team took a two-goal lead into the final 10 minutes Thursday night, which meant North had their city rivals right where they wanted them . almost.

The Panthers had coughed up such a lead in two straight games, and when the Cougars scored with 9:55 remaining, South showed signs of cracking again.

Only this time, the bending wasn’t accompanied by breaking, and when Ryan McCormack’s header went just wide of the near post in the final five seconds, the Panthers had a 2-1 victory to celebrate.

“They came at us full force, and it was tough for us,” first-year South coach Kevin Sparks said. “We got frantic and got a little scared and started not playing our game. That allowed North to get their chances. They kept knocking on the door, but we were fortunate that we didn’t quit ourselves and were able to keep it out of the back of our net for the second one.”

After a scoreless first half that featured few chances on either side, South (4-1-2, 1-0-1 Conference Indiana) began applying relentless offensive pressure.

It paid off in the 48th minute when Chris Post flicked a header into the box, and teammate Kyle Burks was pushed down from behind as he ran onto the ball, earning the Panthers a penalty kick.

Post did the honors, delivering a laser beam into the lower right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

South was not satisfied, continuing to attack and refusing to let North regain any sort of momentum. The Cougars momentarily averted giving up a second goal when goalkeeper Adam Marte charged out to deny an onrushing Drew Barlow, leaving both players temporarily shaken up.

Both had to come out of the game, and the Panthers pounced on the opportunity in the 51st minute.

The ensuing corner kick was cleared away, but the ball landed at the feet of South captain Scott McClary in the middle of the pitch. He took a touch around a North defender and unleashed a 35-yard bomb that caromed off the post in the top left corner and settled into the net for a 2-0 advantage. McClary said trying to test the new North keeper, Jared Winn, wasn’t part of his though process.

“That wasn’t in my mind,” he said. “They’re both good keepers. That was a good hit. I’ll remember that one for a while.”

It was the kind of a shot that left North coach Victor Kaposonore simply tipping his cap.

“I know he has that kind of stuff in him, (but) I didn’t expect to see it today,” he said. “I’ve coached him, and I know what he’s capable of, and that’s a great shot by him. Even if Adam was in, that was still going in. That was a great shot.”

North gradually regained its footing, and the tide shifted just as strongly in the opposite direction when recent Evansville commit Vince DiPrimio fed Aidan Boruff-Young with a through ball that pulled the Cougars within 2-1 with 9:55 still showing on the clock.

It was the Cougars’ first shot of the second half, and more were to come.

DiPrimio got loose on the left side with four and a half minutes to go, but his shot to the far post sailed wide. Another shot sailed too high, and then McCormack’s last-ditch header narrowly missed being the equalizer.

“(South) buckled a little bit, but they didn’t cave in, so credit to them,” Kaposonore said. “Yes, we lost the game, but I think we finally found our team. As disappointed as I am in taking a loss, I’m glad the team I was hoping would show up finally showed up today. It took the last 10-20 minutes of the game, but we’ll take it.”

And Sparks was equally thrilled with the resilience the Panthers displayed.

“You can never count any team out, especially these two when they’re playing each other,” he said. “This has shown the boys that they can do it. We can get these goals, and now we know we can keep them out.”

North (1-3, 0-2 CI) 0 1 — 1

South (4-1-2, 1-0-1) 0 2 — 2

N: Aidan Boruff-Young goal; Vince DiPrimio assist; Adam Marte 4 saves.

S: Chris Post goal; Scott McClary goal; Doug Terrill 1 save.