Franklin’s girls soccer team often had a difficult time generating offense a year ago. Thanks to an influx of new talent, it doesn’t appear the Grizzly Cubs will have the same problem this fall.
Goals from Stephanie Brady and Chloe Smith bookended a pair of tallies from Mollie Hill as Franklin pulled away for a 4-0 victory at Greenwood on Wednesday evening in the season opener for both sides.
Hill and Brady dominated the ball for much of the evening, working off of one another to repeatedly create scoring chances.
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“With them two in the middle, it really controls the way we play our game,” Franklin coach Michael Pierson said.
“Me, Mollie and Emma in the middle, we’re a great trio,” Brady added, “and it’s easy to make plays between us and through balls so we can get a shot off. Our midfield is pretty strong.”
Neither team controlled the run of play early on, but Brady got the Grizzly Cubs on the board late in the 17th minute, and the visitors continued to build momentum from there. With just over 10 minutes remaining in the half, a right-to-left shot from Brady caromed off the left goal post and rolled out to Hill, who converted to make it a two-goal game.
Hill added her second goal from point-blank range just 3:58 after the intermission. The Woodmen were able to hold the deficit at three for most of the remaining time before Smith, a freshman, tacked on the final goal with 6:06 left.
Kiley Hankenhoff came up with eight saves in defeat for the Woodmen despite facing heavy pressure, especially in the second half. Addie Marshall made four stops at the other end for Franklin to keep her sheet clean.
Greenwood coach Joe Mushrush had hoped for a better result, but he’s not hitting the panic button. He believes the mistakes the Woodmen made are fixable, and the team has a week to fix them before facing Whiteland.
“We should have gotten off to a better start,” Mushrush said, “but the only thing we can do now is turn around, get back to the drawing board and fix some things. I believe in this group, and I think we can do it.”
Brady was pleased with how the Grizzly Cubs performed in their season debut after a three-win season in 2019.
“I think we’re working together a lot more, connecting more passes,” she said, “and the energy of our team is really good right now, so I think that’s why we’re doing so well.”
