FLOYDS KNOBS — When Tanner Marcum’s penalty kick sailed into the net at Thursday’s Class 2A Floyd Central Sectional semifinal, four years of frustrations melted away for New Albany’s girls’ soccer team.

Marcum’s goal gave the Bulldogs a 5-4 edge over the host Highlanders in penalty kicks. The 3-2 victory was New Albany’s first for the current New Albany seniors.

“It’s amazing,” Marcum said. “I don’t even know how to describe this feeling. I’m so happy.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever cried [after a win] or been so happy in my life,” fellow-senior Phoebe Bauer added.

The first four shooters for each team were successful following a 2-2 tie through regulation and two overtime periods.

After New Albany keeper Kaelin Blessinger stopped Ali Host’s shot, the tournament and season hopes rested on Marcum’s shoulders.

New Albany coach Julie Dueser asked her five shooters if any wanted to go last. Only Marcum volunteered. Marcum calmly stepped up and put her shot into the right side of the net past Floyd Central keeper Jessica Coryell.

“I felt the pressure,” Marcum admitted, “but I did what I had to do. I tried not to think about it too much.”

“I had every single confidence in her,” Bauer said of her classmate. “I knew she would make the shot.”

The Highlanders’ first four shooters put the ball past Blessinger’s left side. Host – Floyd’s final shooter – tried to go right, but her shot went directly at Blessinger, leading to Marcum’s opportunity to secure the victory.

“I knew she would probably try to kick it that way,” Blessinger assessed. “But a lot of people, when they’re trying to go right, end up kicking it to the center. That’s why I stayed in the middle.”

“She’s played goalie so well,” Dueser said of Blessinger. “I knew if we got into this situation, she was the goalie to have. I had no problem going into penalty kicks, because we have Kaelin.”

“It’s just a big bummer, especially for our seniors,” Floyd coach Lewie Stevens said of a class of seven who played their last game as a Highlander. “It’s just a tough way to go down.”

Floyd took a 2-0 lead in the first 12 minutes of the contest.

Ellie Stewart put the Highlanders on the board on a beautiful crossing pass from Lauren Wyatt at the 32:49 mark. Wyatt then made it 2-0 when she scored on a rebound of her own shot with 28:24 in the opening half.

Five minutes later, Bulldog sophomore Rachel Geveden cut the Floyd Central lead in half when she beat Coryell to a Mackenzie Fell back pass and tapped the ball into the net.

Despite one quick flurry of three shots by Marcum, Floyd Central dominated the pace and the possession for the rest of the first half. The Highlanders out-shot New Albany 10-4 in the first 40 minutes and had eight scoring chances to the Bulldogs’ four.

The second half was a different story. Selena Iglesias’s 35-yard one-time shot tied the score 13 minutes into the second half and the Bulldogs had several chances to win the game in regulation, including a Kylie Harris shot that Christine Clark was forced to block with three minute remaining.

“We have eight seniors and we weren’t ready to be done yet,” Bauer said.

“I’m so proud of this team,” Blessinger said. “I knew we could do it and we finally pulled through.”

“My girls were not going to lose,” Dueser said. “When this team is down, it’s not really down.”

Stevens was also impressed with the Bulldogs’ comeback.

“I thought New Albany was very resilient to come back from down 2-0,” he said.

New Albany is now one win away from its first sectional title in school history. The Bulldogs will face Jasper, who beat Corydon Central 1-0 in Thursday’s second semifinal on an Erin Moser goal, in Saturday’s sectional championship.

“I don’t know much about Jasper,” Dueser said. “I just know that we have to come to play. If we do that, we can totally win.”

 

CLASS 2A FLOYD CENTRAL SECTIONAL

SEMIFINAL

NEW ALBANY 3, FLOYD CENTRAL 2

New Albany    1 1 0 0 1–3

Floyd Central  2 0 0 0 0–2

First Half

F – Ellie Stewart (Lauren Wyatt), 32:49.

F – Wyatt, 28:24.

N – Rachel Geveden, 23:25.

Second Half

N – Selena Iglesias (Kylie Harris), 27:12.

Penalty Kicks

F – Cylie Miller, good.

N – Phoebe Bauer, good.

F – Mackenzie Fell, good.

N – Stephanie Iglesias, good.

F – Wyatt, good.

N – Se. Igleslias, good.

F – Kady O’Farrell, good.

N – Harris, good.

F – Ali Host, blocked.

N – Marcum, good.