By Kevin Leibrock, Hendricks County Flyer
10/30/2008
INDIANAPOLIS — Brownsburg and Cathedral fought through 94 minutes of frigid soccer in Saturday’s semi-state opener at North Central, but it required just one shot to determine the outcome.
Rachel Fulkerson—Brownsburg’s back-up goalkeeper—came up with a huge block to keep the Bulldogs alive in the game-deciding shootout. But on Cathedral’s final shot, junior Katie Wacker sent the ball off a diving Fulkerson’s hands and into the net, clinching a 2-1 (4-3 PK) victory for the defending state champion Irish.
The loss was painfully familiar for the Bulldogs, who also dropped last year’s semi-state final to Cathedral. But despite the sour ending, Brownsburg coach Phil Slavens said he couldn’t be more proud of his team’s deep postseason run.
“We’re leaving with our heads high,” Slavens said. “Give Cathedral credit, they found a way to score and we didn’t. But I thought the girls did a tremendous job this year. They took the defending champions to penalty kicks and actually had a few chances to win in regulation, but just couldn’t convert.”
Brownsburg went on the attack early, when Allison Weimer drove the left side of the field and sent a strong shot into the arms of Irish goalkeeper Erica Maginn just minutes into the game.
The teams simply fought for possession for most of the first half, but with 8:06 to go until the break, Cathedral worked the ball inside off a corner kick and Kate Winingham finished it off by punching it into the net.
That one-goal advantage would hold up for the Irish for most of a physical second half, but Brownsburg didn’t give up. With 7:57 left in regulation, the Bulldogs attacked the net and found Allison Weimer for a close-range goal that knotted the contest at 1-1.
“We were still pretty positive,” Slavens said. “With about 10 minutes to go, I took my midfielder out and went to three forwards and we scored immediately. We really put pressure on them when we went to three up top. That was something we probably should have done earlier.”
When the clock reached triple-zeros with both teams still tied, the contest went into two seven-minute overtime periods. Brownsburg nearly scored the game-winner late in the first overtime when senior Chelsea Spoor sent a powerful shot toward the net, but Maginn punched the ball over the goal at the last second to keep Cathedral’s hopes alive.
Amy Vassilo, Camille Gentile, and Haley Miller each scored for the Bulldogs in the ensuing shootout, but Cathedral clinched the match on their final shot from Wacker.
The loss ended the high school soccer careers of Brownsburg’s 10 seniors, but Slavens said the future is bright for Brownsburg.
“The senior class did an incredible job,” Slavens said. “They were good leaders and good players. They will certainly be missed, but the juniors from this year will step up.”
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