With the way the Columbus North girls soccer team has been lightning up the scoreboard, it might be a little bit of a surprise an electrical issue didn’t occur.
Freshman Lauren Barker scored a hat trick and Jenna Lang added two more goals as the Class 3A No. 19 Bull Dogs scored quickly and often and little to no trouble putting away Terre Haute South 9-2 in Saturday’s Conference Indiana match at Richard Wigh Soccer Complex.
“We passed the ball around together, connected, and got off to a great start, then just settled in,” Barker said.
The Bull Dogs (5-1, 1-0) got on the scoreboard in the 15th minute when Lauryn Whitley made a perfect pass to Lang on the left side. Lang’s shot hit the right post and deflected in for a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, Rion Stevens netted a goal off an assist from Claire Lyvers to give North a 2-0 advantage.
The Bull Dogs weren’t finished tacking on the goals. In the 17th minute, the ball was passed forward to KJ Ely, who outran the Braves defenders and was one-on-one with the goalie. Ely won the battle and put the ball in the net for a 3-0 lead.
For the first 20 minutes of the game, North goalkeeper Mallory Gilley was mostly a spectator, but that would change in the 23rd minute. The Bull Dogs kicked the ball back to Gilley to try to clear the ball, but one of the North defenders got in the way of Gilley’s kick, and the ball took a deflection toward the net. Terre Haute South’s Lauren Beaumont outran everyone to kick the ball in the net to cut the lead to 3-1.
The Bull Dogs got the goal back in the 28th minute when Barker scored off an assist from Lang. Lang then scored her second goal of the game off an assist from Caroline Hollenkamp in the 31st minute to extend the lead to 5-1. Right before the half, in the 39th minute, Barker added her second goal of the game off an assist from Ely to make it 6-1 at halftime.
“It’s been pretty good. We all find a way to come together on the field, which is good,” Lang said of the team’s chemistry. “We all put our differences aside, if there is any, and we’re pretty close off the field, too.”
About that team chemistry, Barker added, “I think we’ve learned our strengths between our three forwards combining and connecting with our midfield to really pass and connect up there.”
North scored three more goals in the second half. Barker completed her hat trick in the 45th minute, and less than a minute later, Hollenkamp converted a penalty kick.
Following the goal, North substituted out most of its starters the rest of the game. Abby Hovis netted a goal in the 69th minute for the Bull Dogs. The Braves got their second goal from Natalie Morris in the 72nd minute.
The victory was the fifth in a row for the Bull Dogs. Lang and Barker said this win should get this team a lot of confidence going forward.
Lang said it was great to get a big conference victory.
“I know last year, we didn’t win conference. We were one win away from winning it,” Lang said. “So this year to start off on the right foot and getting the first win and everyone coming together, we’ve been working on a lot of different things in practice, and it all just showed out on the field today.”
