Center Grove and Columbus North have opened the girls soccer season against each other in each of the last five seasons, and it has always served as the prelude to an eventual sectional meeting.
On Tuesday evening, the two rivals assured themselves of yet another dance with one another.
Four different players scored twice each as the Class 3A No. 8 Trojans pulled away for a 9-1 victory over Franklin on Tuesday evening. Center Grove will now play a Thursday semifinal against the seventh-ranked Bull Dogs, who rode three Amelia Corney goals in a 10-minute span of the first half to a 4-0 triumph over Greenwood.
Senior Paige Northern got Center Grove on the board in the ninth minute when she scored at close range off of an assist by Lexi Glover. Northern then helped make it a 2-0 game with 24:13 left in the first half when her corner kick to the left goal post found the foot of Jaden Hippenmeyer, who one-touched the ball just outside the reach of Franklin netminder Addie Marshall.
The Grizzly Cubs (8-7-1) were able to stay within two until halftime, but Center Grove doubled its lead within the first 4:43 after the break. Junior Emily Karr converted a pair of second-effort shots just in front of the goal mouth, just beating a diving Marshall to a loose ball on the latter tally.
Hippenmeyer’s second goal, a back-post conversion off a Kayli Farmer cross with 32:44 remaining, triggered a running clock at 5-0.
“We thought we had a better game plan than what we came out with,” Franklin coach Michael Pierson said. “We almost came out scared.”
Mollie Hill broke up the shutout when she converted a right-to-left shot from about 25 yards out with 28:32 left in the match, but the Trojans responded with another goal by Northern, this time off a feed from Peyton Murphy.
Jenna Margiotti slammed the door shut with two more scores, one on a laser shot from out front and the second a header off a Taylor Wert corner. Maddie Kramer capped the scoring with a rebound goal in the final seconds.
“Trying to get our kids in the right spot took a little bit of time,” Center Grove coach Mike Bishop said. “We came out with a plan, and we weren’t getting much offense but we were effective on crosses. … We switched things up a little bit (at halftime) and were able to apply more pressure.”
Franklin bids adieu to nine seniors, including Hill and Marshall, who made 12 saves before exiting the game with about three minutes to go.
“Trying to get to winning soccer, building around those two right there,” Pierson said. “It’s going to be a huge loss; it’s going to be up to the coaching staff really developing players more at a younger age. … It’s going to be a big development challenge, but I think we’re up to it.”
The Woodmen (7-8-2) kept the nightcap scoreless for the bulk of the first half, but Columbus North shook off an early injury to senior defender Nitya Chenanda and eventually took control.
Corney broke the stalemate with 10:20 to go in the half when she knocked in a right-to-left crossing pass from Kendal Ely. The freshman then punched home a second tally at the 5:06 mark, this one off a left-to-right ball from Claire Lyvers.
The Bull Dogs extended the lead to 3-0 just 33 seconds before halftime. Corney pounced on a loose ball that got away from Greenwood freshman goalkeeper Bre Wheatley after a save, knocking it loose and into the net.
Greenwood again held its ground in the second half, preventing Columbus North from adding onto its lead until Emily Ellis put a high, hard shot past Wheatley with 8:14 remaining.
Wheatley closed her debut season with a valiant effort in net, making 12 saves.
Though the Woodmen came up short, coach Joe Mushrush was pleased with the effort that he saw from his young squad, which had numerous freshmen playing key roles.
“I’m proud of the team,” he said. “To be able to hang in there — I’m not going to get wrapped up in the score. The way that we played, though, I thought was really nice. … When you start as many freshmen as we do, there’s going to be growing pains, a lot of adversity you’ve got to face. They learned a lot of lessons. We kept our composure, and we didn’t give in when it was totally possible that we could have.”
Center Grove now turns its attention back to a rematch with the reigning sectional champion Bull Dogs. The Trojans rallied for a 2-2 tie in the season opener, but Bishop expects an entirely different match now that Columbus North is without top scorer Jenna Lang, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last month.
“It’s going to be a different set of problems, because the team relied on Jenna when we played them first, and rightfully so,” Bishop said. “Now that she’s out, it’s kind of like, ‘Okay, now what have we got?’ So it’s going to be a whole brand new game, probably different tactics and such. We’ll just have to be prepared.”
