The Batesville Lady Bulldogs have improved to 7-0 on the season after traveling to Columbus to to defeat the Columbus East Lady Olympians 3-1.
Batesville found themselves down at the half by a score of 1-0. Despite having a 9-3 advantage on shots, it was Columbus East who struck first on a cross from #3 Park, that got behind the Batesville defense and was poked in by #7 Stoughton.
At the half, the Lady Bulldogs refocused and remained confident because they have been a strong second half team. It was all Batesville in the 2nd stanza with Batesville scoring with 26 minutes to play in the game to even the score 1-1. Senior captain, Georgia Gratz was able to tip-toe between a Lady Olympian defender and the endline to find an open Hailey Mohr in the box as Mohr was able to win the half-step battle to poke it past the Columbus East goalkeeper. The Lady Bulldogs continued to ramp up their intensity after the score and it paid off.
With 24 minutes to play and just 2 minutes after Batesville evened the score, it was Lauren Gutzwiller who would put the Lady Bulldogs ahead for good. Denise Davalos was patient on the dribble on the right wing as Abbey Prickel drew defenders away from the ball, Davalos sent a beautiful high-arching cross over the goalkeeper as Gutzwiller slid in for the score. Batesville would maintain the slim 2-1 advantage for 21 minutes. With 3 minutes to play, it was Gratz who would add the insurance goal for the Lady Bulldogs. Again, it was Davalos who was credited the assist on the Gratz goal.
“Our defense continues to get better and they really played lockdown defense after conceding the goal. Through 7 games, they have only given up 3 goals. Offensively, we needed to have some players stop up to replace two injured starters. Lauren Gutzwiller, Ashley Nobbe, Caroline Kellerman, and Abbey Prickel all played in different roles tonight and we were able to compete at a high level! It is nice to have that kind of depth on the team to fill voids when needed.” Coach Laker commented.
Field Stats:
Batesville – 6 corners
Batesville – 10 fouls
G. Gratz – 7 shots, 1 goal, 1 assist
H. Mohr – 5 shots, 1 goal
D. Davalos – 2 shots, 2 assists
E. Cassidy – 1 shot
L. Gutzwiller – 2 shots, 1 goal
A. Prickel – 3 shots
A. Nobbe – 1 shot
Goalkeeping Stats:
E. Waechter – 3 saves, 1 goal allowed
JV Score – Batesville 0 – Columbus East 1
Thursday night the JV girls soccer team faced off with the Columbus East Olympians. With only one half of a game to play the ladies knew they had to bring their best effort for the full 35 minutes. Olive Cerniglia aggressively defended the goal by stepping out and stopping multiple advances by the Olympians. Unfortunately, Columbus East found their way through the Bulldog’s defense one time and put one goal on the scoreboard. Gabby Gibbs led the Bulldogs in their offensive efforts with many groundbreaking runs and aggressive tackles.The ladies fought until the last second to try to even the score, but fell short in the end. Their next battle is against the Franklin County Wildcats on Saturday, September 8th. Come out and support your Bulldogs!
JV Write-up from JV Coach Katie Griggs.