Center Grove’s girls soccer team wanted a rematch with Columbus North. Now, the Trojans have officially earned it.
Emily Karr scored three first-half goals and Center Grove controlled play throughout in a 4-0 victory over host Whiteland in a Class 3A sectional semifinal on Thursday at Break-O-Day Elementary.
The win advances the 18th-ranked Trojans (14-4) into Saturday afternoon’s championship game against the No. 8 Bull Dogs, who defeated Columbus East in the other semifinal match.
Center Grove lost to Columbus North, 4-0, in its season opener back in August.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe Trojans kept Whiteland keeper McKinley Garrett busy from the beginning. The sophomore was largely up to the task, making a number of tough saves to keep the score down, but the sheer volume of opportunities proved to be too much for anyone to handle.
Center Grove finished the evening with a 41-1 advantage in total shots. Garrett made 26 saves.
“She’s a pretty incredible kid, isn’t she?” Whiteland coach Nick Magdalinos said.
Karr broke the ice with her first goal in the 10th minute, then converted assists from Paige Waskom and Lexi Glover with 23:36 and 17:50 left in the half.
“We’ve really been working heavy on a clean formation, clean runs,” Center Grove senior Macy Detty said. “We have more runs and we’re creating more options.”
Garrett and the Warriors kept the margin from getting much bigger in the second half, but junior Sydney Hornaday did tack on an insurance tally for the Trojans with 14:24 remaining in the contest.
Magdalinos was happy with how his team finished out the season, winning four of its last seven after a 1-9-1 start.
“I told the girls earlier we were playing on house money,” he said. “Nobody thought we’d get past the first round. Just hard work, and we’ll keep growing. So far, our learning curve has exceeded everybody’s expectations.”
For Center Grove, the expectation is to come out Saturday and put up a good fight against Columbus North, a team the Trojans have beaten in the sectional each of the last to years.”
Coach Mike Bishop hopes his team can shake off the complacency he says he saw at times on Thursday.
“I worry about, do we take care of our little things? Are our minds right?” Bishop said. “Because if not, it doesn’t matter who you’re up against — you’re going to get railed and you’re going home.”
Detty believes that the Trojans will be ready when it matters.
“I’m pretty confident thinking that we’re in a good place now,” she said, “and we’ll be even better and more ready mentally and physically on Saturday.”
