Brooklyn Pendleton
It didn’t long for Columbus North to decide the outcome in Thursday’s Conference Indiana girls soccer matchup against Southport.
The Class 3A co-No. 20 Bull Dogs put up half a dozen goals in the first half and four more in the second half to end the game 20 minutes early for a 10-1 victory over the Cardinals.
It was North’s senior night for Gabby Revell, Allison Kolhouse, Gabby Spurgeon, Brooklyn Pendleton, Lydia Kushman, Hayden Bigler and Mavi Hernandez. So it wasn’t all that surprising that the Bull Dogs came out with a lot of emotion and energy right from the opening kick.
“I definitely almost cried a few times, and it was really tough, especially walking out with my family,” Pendleton said. “It was a really good atmosphere, and the whole team was helping each other out with all the goals. I’m really proud of our team, and I think we really work well together.”
Rachel Fulp connected on the first goal for North (7-1-1, 1-0) in the seventh minute, and Evelin Lopez got a header on the ball from the far post to add another goal a minute later to lead 2-0. In the 12th minute, Kushman scored to add to the lead. A minute later, Avery Baker booted the ball from outside the box that looked to be high but then spun back down just out of reach of Southport goalkeeper Kennedy Cochran to increase the lead to 4-0.
The Cardinals (3-6, 0-3) scored their goal of in the 15th minute to make it 4-1. Lily Ryan then got the Bull Dogs going again by scoring back-to-back goals in the 16th and 18th minute to give them a 6-1 lead.
North coach David Young rotated players in positions they weren’t used to playing in the last 20 minutes of the first half and in the second half. Pendleton was one of them. Normally a defender, she moved up to a forward position and recorded her first careers goals as a Bull Dog. Her first goal came in the 49th minute, and her second came in the 58th minute. Emerson Chambers sandwiched a goal in between Pendleton’s goals in the 52nd minute.
Gabby Revell
The last goal of the contest came from goalkeeper Gabby Revell. Revell said Young asked her if she would still like to stay in goal or play forward for the second half. She decided to play forward and was also rewarded with her first high school goal in the 60th minute, which ended the game.
“It was definitely great to get my first goal. It was really fun to have the chance to play forward, and it was really a nice ending to our senior night,” Revell said.
Young was thankful and appreciative of his seniors.
“It’s a great group of girls,” Young said. “I’ve coached them since they were seventh-graders. They helped build the program to where it is at now, sustain it and honestly, probably push it higher levels than it has been.”
