Lauren Barker
INDIANAPOLIS — After Roncalli controlled most of the first 10 minutes of play in Thursday’s Franklin Central Sectional semifinals, Columbus North began to assert itself and create some offensive opportunities in the second 10 minutes.
But then, the Bull Dogs were dealt a huge blow.
Lauren Barker, by far North’s top offensive threat, sustained a deep thigh bruise and had to be helped off the field in the 20th minute. She would not return, and the Royals went on to post a 3-0 victory.
“When your best athlete/player goes down, you have to readjust,” North coach David Young said. “I felt like we did a good job at readjusting, but when your best attacking player goes down, you’re going to struggle.”
Roncalli’s first two goals came barely a minute apart not long after Barker went out. Summer Fishel put one through the hands of a leaping Mallory Gilley in the 28th minute, then put one in the top left corner of the net in the 29th minute.
Fishel completed the hat trick when she scored on a rebound off a shot attempt in the 52nd minute.
“I felt like the second half, we made some adjustments,” Young said. “We started pressing them a little bit, and when we applied pressure, good things started to happen. But it was an uphill battle. Whenever you start pressing, your tendency is to give up some goals.”
The Royals (10-7-1) outshot the Bull Dogs (7-6-3) 11-2, putting 10 shots on goal to two for North. Both of North’s shots came shortly before Barker went out with the injury.
“I felt like we had a good game plan coming in, and based on the corners that we had, some opportunities in front of goal, I felt like that game plan was working,” Young said. “But whenever you don’t finish in front of goal against a good team, it’s going to eventually come back and hurt you.”
Gilley finished with seven saves. She was one of only four seniors to play most of the final 60 minutes for the Bull Dogs.
“Whenever you’re playing against a Roncalli team with 10 or 12 seniors, it’s tough,” Young said. “We were actually counting them on the field at the end of the game, and about 25 minutes of the second half, we had seven freshmen and sophomores on the field. Whenever you’re doing that in a sectional semifinal game, it bodes well for the future. So as long as the girls are doing the things that they need to do in the offseason, we will be back again next year, and hopefully next year, we’ll be playing on Saturday.”
