NEW ALBANY — Apparently playing together for a good cause doesn’t mean teams have to like each other.

New Albany and Floyd Central met in their annual girls’ soccer “Passionately Pink of the Cure” contest on Thursday. The game was physical, the head coaches spent time chirping at each other, and in the end, the result was a 1-1 tie.

It’s possible that the two teams could meet again in 2012 as two of the best teams in the Class 2A Floyd Central Sectional.

After losing 2-1 in overtime to eventual-champion Floyd Central (5-1-4, 2-1-1 Hoosier Hills Conference), which has won five sectional crowns in the past six years, in last year’s sectional, New Albany (5-3-1, 3-0-1) may have the confidence to finally knock off the Highlanders in early October.

“I know we can beat them,” New Albany senior goalkeeper Kaelin Blessinger said.

“I believe these girls can compete with anybody if they come to play,” New Albany coach Julie Deuser added. “They’re not afraid to play anybody.”

New Albany had a slight advantage in play early in the first half. But the Bulldogs didn’t get a shot off until Tanner Marcum’s free kick 18 minutes into the contest.

Three minutes later, Ali Host gave the Highlanders a 1-0 lead when she looped a shot over Blessinger’s head with 18:53 left in the opening half. Floyd Central’s Cylie Miller was credited with the assist.

“There was a girl coming up on my left side and I saw Kaelin starting to cheat to the other side, so I just tried to get it up and I was lucky enough to get that shot,” Host said.

“Ali has done a really good job of putting touch on the ball,” Floyd Central coach Lewie Stevens said. “It needed to get over the keeper but under the bar and she did a wonderful job of that.”

Five minutes later, Marcum played another free kick, this time from about 35 yards from the goal. Her kick floated into the box and at the foot of New Albany’s Stephanie Iglesias.

Iglesias’ shot went past Floyd goalkeeper Jessica Coryell to even the score at one apiece.

“We practice that a lot,” Deuser said. “Tanner has a great cross and a great free kick. We work on that a lot. We don’t want to miss those opportunities off a free kick like that.”

“I was scared my sister [Selena] was going to get in the way,” Iglesias admitted.

Floyd Central dominated the second half, out-shooting the Bulldogs 10-1, but the Highlanders couldn’t get another shot past Blessinger.

Blessinger stoned Host and Ellie Stewart in a three-minute period, then stopped shots by Mariah Ferber and Stewart late in the contest.

“I knew I could get them,” Blessinger said. “I just had to keep going with what my instincts told me.”

“Kaelin is an exceptional goalie,” Deuser said. “She’s a goalie who is not afraid to come out at all. She is aggressive. Our defense has a lot of faith in Kaelin.”

“She was very good,” Stevens said. “It’s always the case that we always focus so much on ourselves that we forget to compliment the other team, but she did a great job. There were a lot of tough shots on her.”

Despite his Highlanders seeming dejected with the loss, Stevens said afterward he thought they played well enough to come away with the win.

“I thought we played pretty well,” Stevens said. “We just were a little unlucky.”

For the game, the Highlanders out-shot their rivals 18-5 and had nine legitimate scoring chances to the Bulldogs’ four.

“Our team was very frustrated,” Host said. “We can’t not give New Albany credit for the way they played, but we just couldn’t get it in the back of the net.”

Even after a contentious evening, Iglesias put the event into perspective.

“Win or lose, it was going toward a great cause,” she said. “My grandmother had breast cancer, so it was exciting to get to play in the game.”