Sep. 14—MIDDLEBURY — Disneyland might run into some competition for the title of ‘happiest place on Earth’ with all the winning Todd Woodworth Field has seen this year.
Northridge’s boys and girls soccer teams remained unblemished in the win-loss column with both schools winning their contests against Bethany Christian Thursday afternoon.
The No. 15 (3A) girls team looked especially strong, putting up seven goals in the lopsided 7-1 victory over No. 15 (1A) Bethany Christian (7-3-1) to send the Raiders to 8-0-3 this season.
“Bethany’s got a good squad, definitely for a 1A school,” said Northridge coach Chris Malott. “It was a little sluggish on our part, but we’ve been playing some good soccer here lately.”
Freshman Adelynn Miller slipped behind the Bruin defense and placed one in the back of the net to create a 1-0 advantage. Another four minutes passed by before a corner kick from junior Sophia Brown landed at the feet of junior Ashlyn Cawood just outside the penalty box. A couple touches followed and the Raiders took a 2-0 lead off Cawood’s shot which bounced over the diving Bruin goalkeeper Grace Triplett.
Bethany didn’t spend much time with the ball during Thursday’s match, but the Bruins were able to capitalize after a shot on goal from senior Zoe Willems was blocked by Northridge keeper Cydel Miller and bounded towards the right side of the field. Sophomore Mariam Ilyuk answered the calls of her teammates when Ilyuk rebounded the bounce and found an open net for Bethany’s only score of the game at the halfway mark of the first period.
The scoring didn’t stop as Northridge began to push harder on the gas.
Raider freshman Taylor Heflin placed one past Triplett for her first goal of the day and senior Morgan Cross added one at the 31-minute mark to boost the lead up to 4-1.
Bethany struggled to contain the Raiders with Triplett often left in compromising positions as the defense became slow getting back to protect. That would lead to sophomore Malorie Olson scoring her first of the night with three minutes remaining before half, sealing a 5-1 lead.
The second half featured a bit more back-and-forth action, but Northridge offered no sign of relenting. Olson and Hefflin added one more goal each, cruising to a 7-1 win.
“I don’t want to get overly confident; we’ve played in some games that it could have gone one way or another to tie it or lost a couple of them, but our defense has been pretty sound for the most part,” said Malott of the team’s unbeaten record. “We seem to be clicking on the front line a little bit more than we were at the beginning of the season.
Bethany took a beating but showed no sign of doubt that the team is still primed for a postseason run in 1A. The Bruins were overmatched by the much more aggressive Raiders, but still were able to sneak a couple close runs towards Northridge’s net.
Triplett briefly exited the contest during the second half. The senior has donned a face-shield since suffering a nasal injury earlier this season. Triplett returned for the finishing of the second half which is a good sign for the Bruins’ vocal leader on the field.
No. 15 (1A) Bethany Christian (7-3-1) returns home to face Goshen (6-1-3) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. while No. 15 (3A) Northridge (8-0-3) travels to Argos for a Saturday swing at 11 a.m.
GIRLS SOCCER
Bethany Christian — 7
Northridge — 1
GOALS
NR — Adelynn Miller (4′)
NR — Ashlyn Cawood (8′)
BC — Mariam Ilyuk (20′)
NR — Taylor Hefflin (22′)
NR — Morgan Cross (31′)
NR — Malorie Olson (37′)
NR — Taylor Hefflin (60′)
NR — Malorie Olson (67′)
Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at [email protected].
