FRANKLIN — Columbus North’s girls soccer team had tuned up for the postseason with a comfortable 7-0 victory over a young Franklin team in its regular-season finale on Saturday.
Facing the same group of Grizzly Cubs in the semifinal round of the Franklin Sectional on Thursday evening, the Class 3A No. 18 Bull Dogs were again able to make it look easy, scoring three times in the first 14 minutes and coasting to a 5-1 victory.
Freshman Jenna Lang had three goals to lead North (11-4), which will play Center Grove for the sectional championship on Saturday afternoon. The Bull Dogs defeated the Trojans 1-0 in their season opener back in August.
"We wanted to make sure that we were taking nothing for granted," North coach Derek Stewart said. "Playing our game, coming out strong and just playing our game the way we always do."
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The Bull Dogs needed just over five minutes to get on the board Thursday, taking a 1-0 lead when Lang fired a laser to the left side of the net that Franklin goaltender Addison Marshall had almost no chance at stopping.
North added a second tally in the seventh minute when Caroline Hollenkamp dribbled one past Marshall from close range. Lang scored her second goal in the 14th minute after collecting the rebound off her own shot.
"If we score a couple early on, then we can kind of sit back and relax," Lang said. "Our goal was to get up early and then rest our main players on the bench so that we can get ready for our game on Saturday."
In the 26th minute, Baleigh Drum made it 4-0 when she tapped home the rebound of a KJ Ely shot that had glanced off of the crossbar.
Lang added her third goal in the 43rd minute, and the Bull Dogs coasted from there, playing their reserves for much of the remaining time. Franklin’s Shelby Featherston broke up the shutout bid, scoring in the 65th minute.
Having taken care of business against the Grizzly Cubs, Stewart expects Saturday’s match against the Trojans to be just as tight as the one two months ago was.
"Center Grove is a solid team, quality team," he said. "They play well, they’re very organized, and we’re going to have a really great game on Saturday."
