By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Bloomington North took the concept of “spreading the wealth” to a whole new level.
The Cougars scored nine goals, from nine different players, while spoiling Bedford North Lawrence’s home debut on the new turf field with a 9-0, mercy-rule victory on Monday evening.
Once North (1-0) broke through BNL’s sagging defense, the Cougars were tough to stop. They scored seven times in the final 17 minutes of the first half, then triggered the early ending with 6:07 remaining. On the other end, North freshman goalie Annie Davis hardly had to break a sweat, even on a sweltering Southern Indiana day. The only time she touched the ball was kicking it to reset the offense when her defenders cleared the ball back.
“That wears you out, if you’re constantly on defense,” BNL coach Bret Roberts said. “It puts extra wear and tear on defenders. I was impressed with their energy, how strong they came out, how they were able to move the ball around the field. It was hard for us to defend that.”
North’s scoring included most of the roster. Daphne Wright started the offensive tidal wave with a rocket shot into the right corner at 17:19. That set off the fireworks as the Cougars followed with rapid-fire goals from Cora Parker (12:12), Hattie Wisler (a touch shot to the left corner at 10:41), Lena Henschel (a deflected shot off BNL goalie Lauren Crozier), Caroline Farmer (2:07), Camilla Ensign (penalty kick at 1:35) and Erica Urheim (chip in after a shot off the crossbar at 0:53).
“That’s fantastic,” North coach Samantha MacNeil said. “Last season, we had a harder time getting goals. So this makes me very happy to know we have a lot of girls with the capability to put the ball in the back of the net. They started to move the ball really well, found their rhythm and got more opportunities.“
North’s closed out the win with second-half goals by Lucy Bowling and Jillian Schroll.
The Stars paid a price for a flat-footed approach.
”We played a lot better against Silver Creek (a 2-1 loss in the opener), and it wasn’t just the score,” Roberts said. “We didn’t play our best game. One of the things we struggled with was stepping to the ball, pressuring them. They were just passing right around us.”
BNL (0-2) will host Floyd Central on Aug 26.
