Grizzly Cubs overpower Warriors

Franklin girls soccer coach David Young didn’t feel like his team played a perfect match Wednesday evening at Whiteland — but he was content nonetheless.

“We got out of here with no red cards, no injuries,” Young said, “so that’s important.”

Coming away with a victory was a nice bonus.

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Emilie Hill scored a pair of goals, helping the Grizzly Cubs chug past their county and Mid-State Conference rivals for a 4-2 road win.

Franklin, which moved to 5-2-1 overall, has won its first three conference matches. Whiteland dropped its third straight in league play while falling to 4-4 overall.

The Grizzly Cubs drew first blood, getting first-half goals from Delanie Hill and Emilie Hill. Madisyn Proctor found the back of the net shortly before intermission to keep the Warriors within striking distance, 2-1, at the midway point.

After the intermission, Whiteland had a couple of corner kicks but was unable to convert — and Franklin made the home side rue those missed opportunities when, with 30:13 on the second-half clock, Emilie Hill converted a penalty kick to make it a two-goal game.

Just 61 seconds later, Maureen Siedl effectively iced it, beating Whiteland keeper Leesha Thacker with a rebound shot.

“We scored our first goal and we didn’t keep going with it; we let them back in the game,” Emilie Hill said. “I think once we got our second goal, we just kept going.”

Proctor poked home a second goal for the Warriors with 5:28 remaining.

Despite earning the victory, Young would have preferred to see his side cash in on more of its scoring chances at the outset instead of letting Whiteland hang around and keep the match interesting.

“Early on, we had some balls that we probably should have finished,” Young said. “We had some opportunities that could have made the game a little less close than it was.”

“(Whiteland) is a good team; I don’t think we overlooked them.”