Columbus North’s Allison Kolhouse, in black, reacts after scoring a goal from a corner kick during a soccer match against Seymour at the BCSC Soccer Complex in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
The goals kept coming for the Columbus North girls soccer team Thursday night.
The Bull Dogs put up four goals in the first half and four more in the second half for an 8-0 shutout against visiting Seymour at the BCSC Soccer Complex.
In total, seven different North players scored the eight goals.
“Our deficiency (in a 3-1 loss Monday) against Center Grove in the first half was our pressing. Our deficiency in the second half was our disconnect in the midfield and up top with our runs. The last couple days, we spent working on all those things,” North coach David Young said. “We brought into the minds of the girls now what types of runs we’re expecting. We continue to talk to them about that even through halftime tonight just because we can play a through-ball doesn’t mean that’s always an option, so just focusing on that buildup and positive results.”
Rachel Fulp got the scoring started in the sixth minute to give the Bull Dogs (1-1) the 1-0 lead. Evelin Lopez doubled the lead nine minutes later. In the 25th minute, Avery Baker lobbed the ball over the Seymour goalkeeper to extend the lead to 3-0. A couple minutes later, Rachel Merritt delivered the corner kick in the box to Allison Kolhouse, who didn’t hit the perfect header, but it bounced off her body and into the net for a 4-0 halftime lead.
Normally playing on the defensive line at center back, it was the first career goal scored for Kolhouse in a regular-season game.
“It wasn’t an exact play, but we’ve been working on headers off of corner kicks for me since I’m 6-foot,” Kolhouse said. “It’s hard not to win a header, so we’ve been working on that. The ball was off my stomach, but if it goes in, it goes in.”
North added three more goals in less than six minutes to begin the second half. Page Mora netted a goal in the 41st minute, Grace Merritt scored in the 45th minute and Fulp picked her second goal in the 46th minute to make it 7-0. Libby Richards scored the final goal in the 62nd minute.
“In the first half, it was about settling down a little bit, but I think in the second half, we really picked it up. We played with more confidence,” Kolhouse said. “We knew that we could play as a team, and we really showed we could connect it and possess the ball instead playing the big ball and hoping we would run on it. I think we really settled down and played together.”
Danika Hoehn and Gabby Revell combined for the shutout in the net for the Bull Dogs.
