Story by Doug Roorbach/The News Herald–
The Marion Giants trounced the Western Panthers, 10-0, Saturday night to capture a girls soccer sectional title for the third straight year. Kaylan Williams led the Lady Giants with four goals and her possession and distribution of the ball.
It was senior forward Vironnica Drake, though, who got the scoring started for Marion, which took control of possession and started generating chances right from the opening kickoff. After missing opportunities at the 5-minute and 6-minute marks, the Giants finally struck in the eighth minute when a long diagonal from junior Ali Rumple wound its way all the way from the left side through the Panther defense. The ball came to Drake on the right side of the penalty area and she put it in the upper part of the net for the 1-0 lead.
That would prove to be all Marion needed, as the girls dominated play and possession in the Panthers’ end of the field.
“The girls are peaking at the right time,” said Kyle Petricek, Marion’s head coach, “Western played some good soccer; I think we kind of deflated them by finishing early.”
Indeed, Western retained its shape defensively and battled hard, but the Giants proved stronger and faster, repeatedly winning battles for contested balls and beating the Panthers to loose balls to retain possession.
“Our athleticism is definitely one of our strengths and I think the girls have learned how to use it to our advantage,” said Petricek, “We’re not only playing athletically, but we’re playing smart now.”
At the 14-minute mark Williams got her first, a rocket from outside of 25 yards that found the right corner. In the 26th minute, Williams gathered a ball that had been passed around the area for two or three touches and found the lower right corner again to make the score 3-0.
Just over a minute later senior Breanikka Jones collected a shanked shot and touched it in to make it 4-0.
The Giants suffered a slight hiccup less than a minute later when Drake missed a penalty kick (over the top), but slightly less than four minutes later Allie Rumple did convert a spot kick for a 5-0 lead, which the Giants took into half time.
The second half was more of the same. Marion shuttled substitutes in at most every opportunity, but with a bench shortened by injuries, the starters were still playing the majority of minutes and still scoring.
Drake got her second goal of the game five minutes into the second half for 6-0. Williams powered one through the keeper for 7-0 and Jones converted a breakaway for 8-0. Williams got her fourth with less than five minutes to go and sophomore midfielder Kaylynn Scher closed out the scoring with less than two minutes to go.
The win moves the Giants record to 14-3-1 on the season and they will take on Harrison in the regional next, a matchup with which they are familiar. “We knocked them off twice last year,” said Petricek, “so they’re going to want some revenge…and they’re a very resilient team.”
Western had dispatched Mississinewa’s girls team, 9-0, in the semifinals of the Marion sectional.
Another sectional win
The Lady Giants’ was not the only sectional title for Grant County’s eight soccer teams this year; the Eastbrook girls took the Oak Hill sectional title as well, with a 3-1 win over North Miami. Eastbrook eliminated the Oak Hill girls, 3-2, in the sectional semifinal.
The Marion boys lost in the championship game of the Kokomo sectional Saturday afternoon to the host team, 5-0. The Mississinewa boys had lost to the Kats 8-1 in the semifinals.
The Eastbrook boys also lost on Saturday afternoon in their sectional final to Eastern, 1-0. Eastern eliminated Oak Hill 5-1 in the semis of that sectional.
