Columbus North’s Grace Bethuram and Columbus East’s Morgan Scott battle for the ball Wednesday at BCSC Soccer Complex in Columbus.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
After striking for an early goal Wednesday night, Columbus North coach David Young used waves of substitutions to try to wear down Columbus East.
As a result, the Bull Dogs were able to build a 3-0 halftime lead, then pull away in the second half for an 8-0 victory in the annual girls soccer rivalry game at BCSC Soccer Complex.
“We kind of wore them down playing six or seven subs at a time, high pressing,” Young said.
Avery Baker put North (3-1) on the board in the second minute when she took a pass from Rachel Fulp 15 yards out and put a shot over the head of Olympians keeper Cara Veach. Lily Ryan curled in a shot from the right side in the 20th minute. In the 29th minute, Allison Kolhouse put in a rebound off a Baker shot that bounced off a defender.
The Bull Dogs added to their lead quickly in the second half when Grace Bethuram scored off an assist from Kolhouse in the 42nd minute. Grace Merritt finished a pass from Riley Sims in the 45th minute, and Bethuram took a lead pass from Kolhouse and scored in the 50th minute to make it 6-0.
“It was super intimidating, but it was super fun to come out here and play with my teammates,” Bethuram said. “We’ve been working hard all week and preparing for this game. I’m happy to support my team and show up and show out, and I’m glad that we won. But I couldn’t do it without my coaches and of course the people that had the assists. They always start the goals. We all worked hard, we all did it together, and it was amazing to get to work together with this team.”
Freshman Lexi Roukas scored off an assist from Delila Priest-Owens in the 72nd minute. Hayden Bigler, a starting defender who had moved up to forward late in the game, finished the scoring in the 78th minute when she connected off Kolhouse’s third assist of the night.
“I’m just really proud of everyone,” Kolhouse said. “I feel like the East-North is such a different environment. It’s really make-or-break, and I think we made it, and I’m really proud of it. I think we were a different team than our other games.”
North outshot East 38-1, putting 23 shots on goal to none for the Olympians (1-4). Gabby Revell played the first half in goal for the Bull Dogs, and Danika Hoehn and Karleigh Campbell split the second half in goal.
“The girls showed up,” Young said. “We were challenged at the beginning of the week. I think the girls met the challenge and exceeded it. I challenged them at halftime, and they stepped up. I’m proud of them.”
Veach finished with 15 saves for East.
Both teams now have a little time before their next game. North visits New Albany Tuesday. East has nearly two weeks until its next game Sept. 9 at Bedford North Lawrence.
“We need to figure out our defense in the middle of the field,” East coach Grace Manning said. “I think we’ve gotten our hardest games out of the way at this point now that we’ve got this game over with.”
