Center Grove’s Lexi Wilson celebrates as the clock hits zero at the end of Saturday’s semistate match against East Central.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
MARTINSVILLE
Eighty minutes of high-pressure competition had exhausted Brooklyn Brown, but she was ready for more.
Her adrenaline in overdrive following Center Grove’s edge-of-the-seat-worthy 2-1 win over East Central in a Class 3A semistate, the Trojans’ midfielder was ready for more.
Brown is one of eight seniors who’ll help No. 14 Center Grove (16-4-3) vie for its first state championship when it faces second-ranked Noblesville (18-0-2) in the 3A final at IU Indianapolis this coming Saturday evening.
“This means everything to us,” Brown said. “Some of us aren’t playing next year, so this could have been our last game. We put it all on the field.”
Coach Myron Vaughn’s squad played the aggressor the final 20 minutes of the opening half to take a 2-0 lead at intermission. It proved to be the difference between extending one’s season and watching it end.
East Central was whistled for a critical hand ball 24 minutes, 36 seconds into the match, setting up Brown for a penalty kick against senior goalkeeper Rylee Schloss, who was an integral part of her team permitting only four goals over its first 21 matches combined.
Brown’s delivery traveled just beyond the 5-foot-8 Schloss’s reach, finding the left corner for a 1-0 Center Grove lead.
“I do have a plan, and I just have to stick to it,” Brown said.
The Trojans doubled their margin 32:13 into the first half after a corner kick set up a header from senior Maggie Marlin.
“We had gotten a big streak of corners. That was like our second or third corner in a row,” Marlin said. “It went past the goal frame, and there was a sequence of a couple of headers to get back into the goal frame. I happened to be there right in the perfect spot just to finish it with my head. It was awesome.”
This is Marlin’s lone season playing for her high school after previously devoting her time and effort to club soccer. She’s happy for her classmates, who as sophomores endured the heartache of advancing to semistate before losing to Carmel, 1-0.
Center Grove’s final lines of defense — Marlin, senior Addie Crowe, junior Taylor Baier and sophomore goalkeeper Anderson Broshears — yielded few good looks for East Central, which was averaging five goals per match. Junior forward Maria Mayer alone was responsible for 32 goals entering semistate.
“They came after us in the second half, but we had to utilize what we’ve been good at all year, which is defending our goal,” Vaughn said. “I thought for the majority of the game, we had to do everything we had to do to keep the ball out of the back of the net. That’s what I’m so proud of these girls for all season. Our defense, they won’t and can’t get enough credit from anybody. That has been what we’ve laid our hat on, and utilized, since day one.”
With 9:49 remaining in the second half, East Central freshman forward Natalie Stenger left-footed a goal past Broshears and into the upper right corner of the goal to suddenly make things far more interesting. Another East Central shot attempt at 1:38 nearly knotted the score, but the ball caromed off the crossbar.
“This definitely shows that we are definitely one of the top defensive lines in the state,” Marlin said. “We gave up the goal at the end, but just us being able to play tough the entire time and never give up, we were able to hold them off.”
Center Grove opened the season with a 1-0 loss at East Central on Aug. 17. Exacting some revenge put the Trojans in a position to make history.
In 1997, they made it to the single-class state championship match, only to lose to Carmel. A decade later, Center Grove lost to eventual state champ Cathedral in a state semifinal.
Maybe now, the Trojans take the next step.
