In this time of intentional distancing, the Center Grove and Columbus North girls soccer teams entered Monday’s match bunched closely in the preseason poll.
The Trojans, ranked 10th in Class 3A, took the pitch four spots ahead of the visiting Bull Dogs.
Bull Dogs midfielder Jenna Lang accomplished some spacing of her own, the talented junior scoring all of her team’s goals in a 4-0 victory to spoil Center Grove’s opener.
Lang, who is coming off a sophomore campaign in which she recorded 32 goals and eight assists, was, in a word, dominant.
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“She’s pretty special,” said Columbus North coach David Young, whose club improved to 1-1 after dropping Saturday’s opener at 2A No. 5 Brebeuf Jesuit, 2-1. “She’s got a motor that just keeps going, and has a will to win.
“And, honestly, it’s contagious with the team and people feed off that.”
Lang needed just 4 minutes, 33 seconds to get Columbus North on the board in the opening half, weaving through Trojansplayers and curling a 20-yard rocket into the right side of the net. The Bull Dogs made it a 2-0 match with 16:35 remaining before halftime, this time Lang blasting a shot from even further out.
She was just getting started.
Center Grove was still clinging to the hope of perhaps staging a second-half rally, but Lang squashed those plans with a goal with 13:49 remaining. She tacked on her final goal with 8:41 left for good measure before leaving the match with a little over a minute to play.
The Bull Dogs looked like the team that had played a match this season, though Trojans coach Mike Bishop thought it went deeper than that.
“(Columbus North) had definitely been watching film. They had us. They knew what we were going to be about, and it’s a rivalry match,” Bishop said. “We got them twice last year by a wide margin, but you would be foolish to think you’re going to get them every time because they’re a talented squad.
“They moved around effectively in the midfield and caused us some problems. Kudos to them. They had a good game plan, they stuck to it and beat us.”
Center Grove is on the road Wednesday at Class 3A No. 20 Bloomington South. The Bull Dogs play their home opener Saturday against Seymour.
“You don’t want (to play) cupcakes,” Bishop said. “You want your kids to be healthy and not get hurt, so you’re fresh for the tournament. But if you want to go deep in the tournament, you’ve got to see what you’re about and be able to overcome a lot of things.”
