It’s safe to say the Class 3A No. 8 Columbus North girls soccer team has had one of its best seasons in the program’s history.
Unfortunately for the Bull Dogs, their quest for a second state finals appearance in school history came up short as 3A No. 3 Guerin Catholic ended North’s season with a 2-1 loss in the Seymour Semistate on Saturday.
The Bull Dogs finished the season 18-2-1.
“To be able to go to semistate, (finish) 18-2-1, winning conference, sectional and regional, it’s a special group of kids. They never gave up,” North coach David Young said.
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The Golden Eagles (16-1-2) took the lead in the 23rd minute when Evelyn Bestard took a shot from the left side of the box that was saved by Mallory Gilley. But the rebound was collected by Katie Koger, who put it in the net.
Guerin Catholic scored an insurance goal that would eventually come in handy in the 54th minute from Bestard off of a free kick.
North, which made a thrilling comeback against Bloomington South in the regional final, cut the lead in half in the 61st minute when Jenna Lang’s kick from the right side of the box landed at the far post and into the net to cut it to 2-1. Lauryn Whitley was credited with the assist.
Guerin Catholic then held on over the final 19 minutes to secure the victory.
The two goals don’t discount a great effort from Gilley in the box that kept the game from being a runaway. There’s no doubt that she played a big role in helping the Bull Dogs make the trip to the semistate.
“Mal Gilley, in my mind, is a first-team All-State player,” Young said. “The performance she has had in the postseason, including today, even their first goal, she made the initial save. She’s phenomenal, and she’s a sophomore. She keeps us in games that we probably shouldn’t be in. She’s a great kid, and she’s going to work her tail off in the offseason and she’s going to be better next year.
Following Guerin’s first goal, North had a great chance to equalize the game in the first half in the 28th minute when Laney Moore made a touch pass to Lang. With Golden Eagle goalkeeper Olivia Labus off-balance, Lang’s shot attempt just went wide of the near post from the right side of the box.
Regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s game, senior co-captain Kate Kolhouse was proud of the team this season.
“I’m proud of every game that we came out. I feel like every game, we left everything on the field, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls to play with this last season,” Kolhouse said. “Obviously, we would rather have it end in a win, but we know that only one team can win, and making it to the final four is still an incredible feat. I’m incredibly proud of everything we were able to do and all the growth we saw in all our players on this roster. Watching them all grow is a really great gift to have this season.”
Moore, also a senior co-captain added, “I feel like from Day 1, we were going to go pretty far in the tournament, but I think what made all the difference this year was how we were more than just a team, we were more like a family and we trusted each other with everything, and our trust on the team this year was crazy. We were all a family and best friends in school and outside of school.”
The Bull Dogs made history this season. Lang scored 44 goals, which is a single-season school record. The previous record holder was Kayleigh Steigerwalt with 39 in 2010. Lang is third on the all-time career goals list with 95, trailing only Steigerwalt’s 113 and Lindsey Fox’s 109.
Whitley set the single-season school record in assists with 23, and with her assist Saturday, she tied Erica Stewart’s school record for career assists with 52.
Along with Whitley, Moore and Kolhouse, North also will lose seniors Alexa McKinley, Helena Ho, Samantha Crossman and Emily Kleinhelter.
“Every day, they come in, and they work. All seven of them will be very, very tough to replace,” Young said. “Good kids, good in the classroom, GPAs are phenomenal … You just can’t ask for a better group than they’ve been. We’re going to miss them a lot.”