Defense wins championships.
It’s an old cliché that couldn’t be any truer for the Columbus North girls soccer team.
Led by sophomore goalkeeper Mallory Gilley, senior center back Kate Kolhouse, junior center back Nitya Chenanda, junior left back K.J. Ely, sophomore right back Riley Schumm, and junior defensive midfielder Rion Stevens, the defense has posted shutouts in 10 of the 20 games and allowed 13 goals this season.
The Class 3A No. 8 Bull Dogs (18-1-1) will need another strong defensive performance against No. 3 Guerin Catholic (15-1-2) in Saturday’s semistate match at Seymour.
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“Together as a back line, we’ve performed really well because we each hold different strengths that make up for maybe a weakness that we might have. Someone can possess a strength that helps balance it,” said Chenanda, an All-State selection last year. “We’re a really balanced back line. We support each other a lot. If one of us makes a mistake, we’re ready to support each other, and Mallory is also a really good goalie giving us direction and helping us stay connected.”
The defense starts with Gilley, who is beginning to establish herself as one of the top goalkeepers in the state in her first year as a full-time starter. She, along with Chenanda, were named All-District 4 First Team earlier this week.
Gilley is the general of the defense because of her ability of seeing the entire field. She said that she doesn’t do much defense adjustments herself to different formations and offensive tactics that the opposition show during the match. She added that she adjusts to the team’s formation changes, and it’s different how she communicates with the back line.
“They know what they’re doing, which makes me feel really good about my position as the goalie,” Gilley said.
Gilley said she relies on her center backs, Kolhouse and Chenanda, to relay her view to the rest of the team.
“(Gilley is) behind me, so she can see the field a little bit better than I can sometimes. So if she sees something that she thinks is off or something we can adjust to, she’ll let me know,” Kolhouse said. “Normally, Mal will talk to us, we’ll talk to them and then they talk up like a tree. It starts with Mallory, and then it branches out to everyone else.”
Gilley said that as brutal as it may sound, she will yell at them, not out of anger, but as a way to better communicate with her teammates.
“Sometimes, a lot of the communication that will happen between the defense and Mallory will be like whether or not she needs to get a ball for us,” Stevens said. “If Mallory yells, ‘Keeper,’ then you know to get out of the way and let her get it, and in some cases, she’ll have to yell out the person’s name to get it.”
While the defense is much of the same unit as last year, Ely switched from playing more up front to shifting toward the back line this season.
Ely said the position switch has been a big key in helping the defense see from an offensive perspective.
“I know they’ve played together for a while, and I know that they just have the connection, and they all know how each other play. They can build off of each other really well,” she said. “I think I just have the more offensive mindset so I can be a good key to a different perspective on the field for them.”
She said it’s been quite an adjustment switching positions.
“It’s been a lot to learn,” Ely said. “In club, I play up top or center mid, so I’ve always been all over the field, but I haven’t really been set defense, so it’s been quite an adjustment, but I’ve gotten used to it now.”
Prior to the regional final match against Bloomington South on Saturday, Gilley and the defense posted shutouts in five straight games against some of the state’s top teams, including No. 7 Evansville Memorial in regional semifinals, No. 17 Center Grove in the sectional final, Columbus East in the sectional semifinals and against 2A No. 14 Lawrenceburg and 2A No. 20 Batesville late in the regular season.
The Bull Dogs also posted four straight shutouts in games earlier in the season with one of those coming against 3A then-No. 11 Homestead.
“We’re all really close friends, the whole back line, so I think that helps with all of our communication,” Schumm said. “We’re are all so close. We all play for each other, and we know what’s best for each other, so we’re all willing to put in the extra effort to help each other out.”
A win against the Golden Eagles would give the Bull Dogs their second state finals appearance, with the previous appearance happening in 2010. That season, North beat Guerin Catholic in the state semifinals of a one-class tournament before finishing state runner-up.
North coach David Young said the defensive group has played a pivotal role in the team’s success this season.
“It takes a special person to play defense and holding mid. The people that we have back there, they play for each other, they play for the team and play with a lot of heart,” Young said. “They keep us in a lot of games, and we’re here today because of the people that play on our back line and Mal.”
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Class 3A semistate girls soccer
Columbus North (18-1-1) vs. Guerin Catholic (15-1-2), 1 p.m. Saturday at Seymour
Noblesville (15-0-1) vs. South Bend St. Joseph (16-2), 1 p.m. Saturday at South Bend St. Joseph
Admission: $10
Note: All 12 semistate boys and girls soccer matches will be available at IHSAAtv.org via pay-per-view for $14.95 per match or $19.95 for access to all matches.
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