The Columbus North girls soccer team turned up the energy level in the second half Monday night.
The Bull Dogs knotted two goals in the second half to post a 2-0 shutout victory over Franklin at the BCSC Soccer Complex.
“The first 20 minutes, they had better pressure against us, more energy against us,” North coach David Young said, “and the last 20 of the first half and then the full 40 of the second half, we decided to play. We brought more energy. Tactically, we did make the decision to force the ball outside and see if we can disconnect some of their outside backs from their center back, and we had success. Then that opened up space in the middle of the field.”
It took some time, but the go-ahead goal eventually came for North (2-1). After goalkeeper Danika Hoehn corralled the ball and quickly delivered the ensuing boot to close to midfield, Lily Ryan got the touch over five Franklin defenders.
As the ball was rolling toward the goal box, Ryan, a sprinter on the school’s track team, used her speed to her advantage and ran past everyone to find herself one-one-one with Grizzly Cub goalkeeper Addy Mashino. Ryan’s kick went past Mashino and into the net to take the lead.
“My coach tells me to get a touch whether it’s my head or anything, so I just tried anything to get a touch over them and run onto it,” Ryan said.
The Bull Dogs got the insurance goal in the 64th minute when they were rewarded a corner kick. Rachel Merritt took the corner kick and booted it right in front of the goal line, and Allison Kolhouse used her height to her advantage to get the touch needed to put the ball in the net.
North takes on Columbus East in the annual rivalry game at around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, following the 6 p.m. JV contest. With the forecast calling for high temperatures in the mid-90s with the heat index over 100, the time of the game is subject to change.
