No. 9 Panthers dominated early, but one goal not enough against No. 6 Trojans
GREENWOOD — Bloomington South owned the first 25 minutes, but ended up defaulting the mortgage.
It took that long for a goal to finally go in after chance after great chance went a foot high, a foot wide, missed a flicking foot by inches or was just punched over the goal.
Maddie Norman finally finished one off on the 11th shot, but a one-goal lead might easily have been two, three or four. That is where No. 6 Center Grove capitalized, turning the tables with two goals before halftime to post a 2-1 win over the ninth-ranked Panthers.
South (14-3-3) played terrifically, but the missed opportunities were an omen.
"I knew we were in trouble at half," South coach David Prall said. "You've got to score when you're up in these types of games. They're going to have runs and chances and you've got to score when you're up and we didn't and paid for it.
"But we couldn't have played harder."
Norman's goal got the Trojans' attention. The first CG goal came just three minutes later after a foul in the box led to a penalty kick that Brynn Murphy buried.
Then an unfortunate turnover allowed Center Grove (18-2) to take the lead, with Mia Marlin finding freshman Kinley Tolbert for a goal with just four minutes left in the half.
"It just seemed like we started to rush a lot more," junior goalkeeper Paloma Martinez said. "That's never good for a team. You've got to stay calm on the ball. But we played the best we could."
South had outshot CG 13-6 with six on goal to CG's four and five corner kicks to CG's one going into the break. Yet, the Panthers found themselves trailing.
"You're not going to dominate for 80 minutes on good teams," Prall said. "So it was always going to be that type of game. And I thought there were going to be more goals in the second half, too.
"It just kind of slowed down, maybe. They covered up Ellie (Barada) a little better on the wing. She didn't do as much. She was killing them on the outside."
Nothing doing in the second half
There wasn't much to change in terms of strategy. Possessions had started to even out after South's quick start, but Center Grove made things harder on South's offense, which generated just two more shots on net.
"It got kind of choppy," Prall said. "If we could play with the lead, we could do the same thing. Get somebody else back there.
Martinez was kept busier in the second half, but let nothing else by here, with a couple of diving saves, including two, one right after the other, at the top of the box.
"(The defense) was fantastic," Martinez said. "Constant blocks. Izzy (Sweet) and Lizzy Bucklin, and our outside backs, Ali (Stolberg) and Avery (Schwartzman), they really helped keep the score down."
"We came out and attacked," Prall said. "That's what we talked about. We think we're the better team, so let's attack them. We didn't sit back. We wanted to play open, and we did.
"I couldn't ask for anything more. I thought they played really well."
And certainly well enough to win. But it marked the end for seven seniors, including starters Barada, Helena Cutshall, Val Bunde, and Sweet.
"They just mean so much," Martinez said. "They've brought us so far, and this year, our confidence has gotten so much better. You can see it on the field, and we just connect passes way better. We have a lot of momentum.
"Our seniors are great people. They keep the motivation high."
"I think they raised the standard," Prall said. "To come to Center Grove, we've always played with Center Grove, but to really take it to them, that's really different."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: South girls soccer lets chances get away in regional semifinal
Category: General Sports
