The Columbus North girls soccer team had much to celebrate before the game Monday when the six seniors on the roster were recognized.
Unfortunately, for the Bull Dogs, they were unable to celebrate after the match. North was held scoreless against Conference Indiana foe Bloomington South, falling 1-0 on senior night.
The Bull Dogs (7-2-1, 3-2- 1) controlled play early on. Senior Corrine Orben sent a laser of a shot off the left goal post three minutes into the game. North ended up with six shots on goal for the night, but none came closer to scoring than Orbens early shot.
The Bull Dogs had trouble throughout the night keeping Bloomington South sophomore Gaelle Wells from penetrating deep into their defense. In the 17th minute, Wells put a shot in the back of the net to score the only goal the Panthers needed.
“The longer the game went on we felt the pressure,” North coach Derek Stewart said. “(Wells) is a really nice player for them. She just kind of broke our defense a little bit there on the scoring play.”
The second half was much the same. North struggled to get any clean shots on the goal. In the 62nd minute, the Bull Dogs were awarded three consecutive corner kicks, but were unable to even the score.
The Panthers outshot the Bull Dogs 8-6. Liz Tynan recorded seven saves for North.
Playing a team like Bloomington South can only help the Bull Dogs moving forward as they assess their strengths and weaknesses in preparing for the state tournament, Stewart emphasized.
“I think that we started out well,” Stewart said. “We had some nice possessions and some scoring opportunities. We got to look at some of our strengths and weaknesses that we have, and we saw a few weaknesses today that we need to improve upon. I think we will continue to grow and develop as a team and as individuals and get better as the season moves on.”
