On a night when North Central were poised for a road win, two days removed from posting 10 goals in their season opener, the Lawrence North girls soccer team snapped on their capes and defended their home field like Batman guarding Gotham on Thursday.
With lockdown defense that was backed by two first-half goals, the Wildcats (3-0) secured a 2-0 shutout win over the Panthers (1-1).
“We’ve really been working on press-and-cover so the center (defenders) are really working together, talking, covering for each other,” said Lawrence North sophomore defender Anna Livingston. “I think me and (freshman) Zoe (Carpenter) did really well all that, and then our outside backs, obviously, stepping to the ball and covering when we need.”
Lawrence North shut down a second wave of offensive firepower that North Central had hoped to unleash on Thursday. Before they fell on the road, the Panthers secured a 10-0 home win over Warren Central on Tuesday - a match where junior Charlotte Cheshire and sophomore Kate McCann lit things up with eight goals combined.
That offensive magic was thwarted with how the Wildcats earned their clean sheet. Defensive adjustments laid the foundation for Lawrence North’s win. They struggled with aerial threats and balls played over the top during narrow wins over Mt. Vernon and Brownsburg in the first two matches of the season. A gray area that saw improvements on Thursday.
“We talked about the defensive changes that we need to make from the previous two games and that was the benefit for us playing Saturday (and) Monday,” said Lawrence North coach Jacob Miller. “We struggled at Mt. Vernon and at Brownsburg just balls in the air, balls over the top … I don’t know how many times we got beat over the top, but I don’t think it was very often tonight.”
With their defense rolling, the Wildcats found some offensive juice from two of their top sophomores.
In the opening half, the ball flew from the right corner, courtesy of a kick by Lawrence North captain Veda Stahly, before it landed in the box. The area was congested with cleats before Livingston won the scrum and tapped in the opening strike against North Central on Thursday.
“Corners are like one of my favorite things to do,” Stahly said. “Especially being on the right side, being able to swing it in with my left foot. It was really cool and my teammate Anna Livingston, sophomore, she’s really amazing so I’m really glad she scored it.”
With about 17 minutes left before halftime, a few minutes removed from Livingston’s haymaker, sophomore Charlotte Tran launched a missile from about 20 yards out and extended the home team’s lead.
“Both of them returning varsity players, both special players and they’re unique,” Miller said. “With Anna moving to the inside, we told her,’ Hey, it’s your job on corners. Just put your head down on it, get something into the back of the net and she did it … Charlotte’s just special. There are no other words to describe the kid. Just feed the kid the ball and let her just go. Just play off of her.”
After the match, the Lawrence North student section formed a human tunnel that the Wildcats ran through. Hugs all around. The home squad grinning ear to ear after conquering their rivals from the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference.
Thursday captured Lawrence North’s will to win. A night when they refused to let the visitors land a scoring punch.
“I think for us, because they’re in our MIC, it’s really important to us,” Stahly said. “Usually year to year, we’re back-to-back (in wins) with them “It’s kind of like going back and forth MIC champions. As long as we continue to do what we did in this game, I’m really proud of my team, and I think we got this.”
Marc Ray is a high school sports reporter at the IndyStar. He can be reached at marc.ray@indystar.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Lawrence North blanks North Central in MIC battle for girls soccer win
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