Terre Haute South may have shocked Columbus North a little bit when it scored just 48 seconds into Saturday’s girls soccer game.
But the Class 3A No. 8 Bull Dogs took even less time to answer, tying the game on a Kristen Orben goal 13 seconds later. North added three more first-half goals and went on to post a 6-1 Conference Indiana win.
“That was really important because normally after a first goal, some people get down,” said Tanner Johnson, who scored two goals for the Bull Dogs. “But when Kristen scored, we just got the momentum back and kept scoring after that.”
The Braves goal came from Natalie Morris. But then North (6-0-1, 2-0-1) kicked off, and Caroline Hollenkamp found Orben for a goal.
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One minute, 1 second into the match, the game was tied.
“The first one, the field conditions had a little bit to do with it,” North coach Derek Stewart said. “That goal mouth is full of mud, so unfortunately, (goalkeeper) Liz (Tynan) kind of got stuck in the mud there and couldn’t move to the ball. However, it was nice to see us turn around and get the goal right back immediately.”
The Bull Dogs took the lead in the eighth minute when Johnson intercepted a goal kick and put one in the net. Then in the 30th minute, Johnson scored off an assist from Corrine Orben.
Baleigh Drum knocked in a cross from Corrine Orben in the 36th minute to give North a 4-1 halftime lead.
“It was super important because we really didn’t know where the first goal came from,” Kristen Orben said. “It was a huge shock, so we needed to get another goal right away to get our momentum back. We kind of got back into things and started connecting through the midfield and finding the outsides and finding Tanner up top.”
Neither team scored in the second half until the 67th minute when Kristen Orben connected off an assist from Lauryn Whitley. Corrine Orben added a goal in the 77th minute to account for the final margin.
The Bull Dogs outshot Terre Haute South 17-12, putting 12 shots on goal to five for the Braves. Tynan played the first 70 minutes in goal for North and recorded four saves, while Kaylyn Bates did not fave a shot on goal in the final 10 minutes.
Johnson’ who was the Bull Dogs’ leading returning goal scorer, had only one goal coming into the game, so she was happy to get back on the board.
“It was so nice, especially since I haven’t been scoring the past couple of games,” Johnson said. “I was trying to go for a hat trick, but it didn’t turn out.”
