An offense as potent as Center Grove’s girls soccer team has can only be kept down for so long.
Down a goal at the midway point Thursday, the host Trojans came storming back in the second half to claim a 3-1 victory over No. 11 Columbus North in the first semifinal of the Center Grove Sectional.
Senior Jostin Reeves scored twice for the eighth-ranked Trojans (15-2-1), who will play in Saturday night’s championship game against Columbus East. The Olympians topped Franklin, 3-0, in the second semi.
Jenna Lang’s free kick in the 29th minute broke the ice in the opener and allowed the Bull Dogs to take a 1-0 edge into the intermission, but panic never really set in for Center Grove coach Mike Bishop and his team.
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"Our goal is to just stay composed," Reeves said. "We just have to maintain positivity on the field and work together; don’t panic and don’t play in a rush."
Center Grove didn’t need much time after the break to tie it back up. Kayli Farmer’s cross from the left side got through the crease and was picked up on the back side by Jostin Reeves, who settled the ball and knocked it past Columbus North keeper Kaylyn Bates with 35:35 remaining.
"Originally, I was going to hit it with my head, but it just came to my thigh," Reeves said. "I just tried to be patient on the ball, because if I went too quick I would put it over. So I just stayed patient and hit it."
After dodging a bullet when Lang’s hard breakaway shot clanged off the left goalpost, the Trojans took the lead with 20:48 to go when Reeves put away another cross from the left side, this time from off the foot of freshman Emily Karr.
Bates kept Columbus North’s hopes alive when she stopped a Katelyn Jansen penalty kick with 2:48 on the clock, but Center Grove was able to ice it in the final minute when Bri Poore’s long clearing pass set up a breakaway for Macy Detty, who rolled the clinching goal into the net.
The nightcap also stayed scoreless for much of the first half, largely due to the play of Franklin netminder Addie Marshall, who made 10 of her 17 saves in the first 40 minutes. Columbus East finally broke the seal with 5:05 left before the break on a goal by Alana Dwenger.
Marshall continued to keep the Grizzly Cubs (3-14) close, but the Olympians got a second tally from Lindsey Stoughton in the 50th minute to create a little more breathing room. A Gabriella Schuetz goal with 4:22 remaining closed out the scoring.
Despite the season-ending defeat, Franklin coach Mari Weidman was proud of her young team’s development over the season.
"I think of the team that I had in our first game, where over half of my roster had never played a varsity game," Weidman said. "It was rough, and they didn’t know how to work as a team and they weren’t confident in themselves. And that is the polar opposite of the team that I saw tonight. I actually saw a team."
Center Grove handled Columbus East with ease when the two teams played last month, claiming a 7-1 win, but Bishop doesn’t expect a letdown from his team after the big semifinal triumph.
"We’re used to it, becuase it seems like every sectional we run into (Columbus North) early," he said. "So it’s not so much of a letdown, but more of a, ‘Okay, we got through this hurdle. We know what we’re about, we know what we can do. Let’s get on with it.’"
