Columbus North had a huge shot advantage on Columbus East midway through the second half Wednesday night, but had only a 1-0 lead to show for it.
But in a matter of moments, the Bull Dogs put the game away. They scored in the 59th and 64th minutes to pull away for a 3-0 win in a battle of ranked teams.
"At halftime, we talked about, ‘Whoever gets that next goal … they’ll drop their heads if we get that next goal,’" said Jenna Lang, who scored two of North’s three goals. "We just needed to be up one or two more because we had the opportunities the whole time."
Lang put the Class 3A No. 20 Bull Dogs (2-1) on the board in the 25th minute when she gathered a ball that bounced off an East defender and put it over the head of Olympians keeper Karisma Parker from the top of the box.
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The 3A No. 19 Olympians (1-2-1) came close to tying the game in the 37th minute, but Kathleen Soedel put a shot just wide right, and North held on to a 1-0 lead at the half.
Midway through the second half, the Bull Dogs gained some breathing room. Claire Lyvers took a lead pass from Lauryn Whitley and put one in for a 2-0 lead.
"I think since it’s our crosstown rival, it’s a lot of a mental game as much as it is an actual rival game," Whitley said. "So we thought it was important to get more in because we knew if we just shut them down, we knew we would win if we got another goal in right away."
Whitley assisted on the final goal five minutes later when her corner kick found the head of Lang, who made it 3-0.
"They have Alana (Dwenger) over there, and you never know when she’s going to get loose," North coach David Young said. "We knew that we needed to get at least another one because we felt like she was going to get at least one. Fortunately tonight, she did not. We felt like we had a good game plan against her. We just let the girls play, the girls played loose vs. what they played against Center Grove (in a season-opening loss), and I think that’s the key for these girls."
The high-scoring Alana Dwenger is the sister of former East standout and new North assistant coach Emma Dwenger. Their younger sister Norah, also was a starter for the Olympians.
"We tried to do a couple things with certain players that East has," Young said. "They have a couple players who are very dynamic and can beat a lot of players. We feel like we had a nice game plan going into the game. The girls executed that, and we had a good result."
The Bull Dogs played without starting goalkeeper, senior Kaylyn Bates. The senior was hit in the head on Seymour’s only shot of the game in Saturday’s win against the Owls and went to a trainer to get checked for a concussion on Monday. She will miss at least a week.
In her place, freshman Mallory Gilley recorded three saves over the first 74 minutes. Sophomore Layla Terry did not face a shot in the final six minutes.
"We are a fortunate team," Young said. "We have three solid keepers. We are very fortunate that two of our solid keepers are a freshman and a sophomore."
North finished with a 30-6 shot advantage. The Bull Dogs put 12 shots on goal to East’s three.
Parker recorded eight saves in the first 74 minutes, and Erin McIntyre did not face a shot on goal in the final six minutes. The Olympians also got a non-keeper save from Allison Craig, who cleared a ball in front of the goal early in the game.
"We competed," East coach Ilya Schwartzman said. "They were better than us tonight. I think we just kind of had a big week, and the energy was zapped a little bit. But give credit to North — they played a fantastic game. It was a tough game for us, but we’ll come back strong. We’re resilient. We believe we’re a good team. We still have a lot of soccer to play, and this is one game."
