North, East girls set for sectional semifinal

Columbus North went 14-1-1, won the Conference Indiana championship and finished the girls soccer regular season No. 8 the Class 3A state rankings.

But coach David Young knows the Bull Dogs have a new task ahead, beginning with tonight’s battle with Columbus East in the semifinals of the Whiteland Sectional, which will be played at around 7 p.m. at Break-O-Day Elementary.

“We’ve had a great season,” Young said. “But as everybody knows, when tournament starts, things get tighter. Everybody is 0-0, and that’s what we’re focusing in on right now.”

North used goals from four different players in its 4-1 win against the Olympians back on Aug. 26. In the opening minutes of that game, East sophomore outside back Norah Dwenger had to leave because of an injury.

“The first game, we had a pretty significant injury to one of our starters that kind of altered the plan for the game,” East coach Ilya Schwartzman said. “The keys are playing as a unit and defending as a unit and attacking as a unit, everybody contributing on the field and executing our plan and taking advantage of our opportunities and limiting their opportunities.”

Both teams have prolific goal scorers who are closing in on single-season school records. North junior Jenna Lang has 36 goals, which is three short of Kayleigh Stiegerwalt’s record of 39.

East’s Alana Dwenger has 31 goals, which is four behind her sister Emma’s record of 35 from 2011. Emma, who also had 34 goals as a senior in 2012, now is an assistant coach for the Bull Dogs.

The Olympians went 10-6 in the regular season.

“I think we’ve done well,” Schwartzman said. “We’ve come together and are playing high-level soccer. We’re ready for the sectional physically and mentally, and we’re going to come out battling and expecting a good result.”

The winner will advance to Saturday’s 2 p.m. final, likely against 3A No. 18 Center Grove. The Trojans have knocked both North and East out of the sectional each of the past two years.

But the Bull Dogs and Olympians are squarely focused on tonight’s match.

“That’s the one thing that we’ve been preaching all year — next opponent,” Young said. “During the year, our girls would comment on, ‘Who do we play on Saturday?’ and we would tell them, ‘We have another team coming up on Thursday.’ I think that’s a testament to our leadership that we’re focusing in on the next game.”

Football pairings today

The IHSAA football tournament draw will take place at 6 p.m. today and will be livestreamed at ihsaatv.org

Sectional action for Classes A, 2A, 3A and 4A begin Oct. 23. Columbus East and Columbus North are in 6A, which has a bye week that week and will start with sectional semifinals on Oct. 30.

State cross-country split

The boys and girls races at the Cross-Country State Finals have been split up to help ease congestion. The girls meet will begin at 11:30 a.m., and the boys meet will be at 3 p.m. Oct. 31, both at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute.

The Oct. 24 Brown County Semistate also has been split, although not as much. The girls race will begin at 11:30 a.m., and the boys will run at 1:30 p.m. at Eagle Park.

Saturday’s Brown County Sectional and the Oct. 17 Columbus North Regional at Ceraland will have 10:30 a.m. girls and 11:15 a.m. boys starts.

Ted Schultz is sports editor for The Republic. He can be reached at [email protected] or 812-379-5628.