Whiteland’s Hailey Hillhouse and Columbus North’s Avery Baker battle for control of the ball during Tuesday’s sectional match.
Tommy Walker | For the Daily Journal
COLUMBUS
Greenwood went to a packed-in defense Tuesday evening to try to keep Center Grove’s high-powered offense at bay.
The tactic worked for the first 20 minutes of the first half and the first 20 minutes of the second half, but the Class 3A No. 15 Trojans were able to break through to post a 3-0 girls soccer victory in the opening round of the Columbus East Sectional.
Center Grove (11-4-3) advances to Thursday’s semifinals, where it will meet 3A No. 19 Columbus North, a 1-0 winner over Whiteland in Tuesday’s nightcap. Franklin and Columbus East will meet in Thursday’s second semifinal.
The Trojans got on the board in the 21st minute. After a foul in the box, Brooklyn Brown converted a penalty kick. Center Grove scored its second and third goals in the 61st and 62nd minutes to break it open. Jessie Jasek finished a cross from Mia Marlin, who added an unassisted goal a minute later.
“They way that they were set up was to prevent us from scoring as a priority, and they did a good job of it in terms of the way they went about what they wanted to do,” Center Grove coach Myron Vaughn said. “It’s always going to take a little bit of patience when you play a team that is set up that way, and I think today was just kind of a lesson in patience. … It wasn’t so much a matter of when we scored or how much we scored, but once we got the first one, it took a little pressure off of us and at that point, they would have to come after us if they wanted to. It was just one of those games of, you have to be patient and find your way, and once you do, you’re okay.”
The Trojans outshot the Woodmen (9-6-1) 29-0, putting 17 shots on goal. Greenwood’s Brooklyn Benefiel recorded 14 saves.
“We were able to create some chances, not as many as we may have wanted, but we expanded well when we were able and just made everything a little bit harder than I’m sure they expected,” Greenwood coach Dan Appelbaum said. “Everything is a battle, everything is a fight, and that’s what we wanted to make it. Nothing came easy, and that’s what we wanted. Our girls fight hard. That’s who Greenwood is, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”
Meanwhile, Whiteland goalkeeper Addison Emberton turned away four point-blank North shots in the first 25 minutes of the nightcap before the Bull Dogs finally broke through in the 26th. Rachel Fulp’s goal proved to be the game-winner.
“Whiteland is a very well coached team,” North coach David Young said. “Whiteland has a ton of nice players. I felt like our players were locked in from minute one. They knew what they wanted to do, they remembered last year and they didn’t want that moment to occur again. It was probably the most focused that our girls have been this season.”
The Bull Dogs (13-2-1) outshot the Warriors 20-3, putting 10 shots on goal to one for Whiteland (10-4-1). Emberton finished with nine saves.
“She kept us in the game,” Whiteland coach Nick Magdalinos said. “We didn’t come out really firing on all cylinders. Then we kind of got into a little it of a flow. We just played from behind and couldn’t catch up. We kept trying different things, and we just couldn’t find something that was clicking tonight, and that made it hard on us. They did a good job of taking away our strengths.”
With only two seniors on the roster, the Warriors will look to come back stronger under Magdalinos, who has led them to improvements in each of his six seasons at the school.
“Right now, it’s just a slow and steady build,” Magdalinos said. “We’ve been building every year, so we’re just going to keep it rolling.”