Batesville scored three goals in the final 33 minutes of Saturday’s soccer match against the Seymour girls and blanked the Owls 3-0 on the hot Seymour turf.
The first half was a defensive battle with the Bulldogs attempting a shot with 11 minutes on the clock, to none for the Owls, for a 0-0 tie at the half.
Seymour coach Greg Musser said he liked the way the Owls picked up the pace in the second half when they attempted seven shots.
Paige Mora had Seymour’s first shot on goal one minute into the second half.
Eliza Cash and Brooke Trinkle attempted shots before Haley Lipps headed in a goal at 33:29 to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
“I was very happy with the effort over the course of the day.” Musser said. “In the first half you’re kicking off some dust and working through some kinks, but you play them 0-0 through the first half and we’re in good shape.
“I thought we truly had the better run of play for a majority of the second half. We made two really big mistakes (on Batesville’s first two goals) but they are fixable mistakes. So it’s nothing to hang their heads on.”
Trinkle had three shots in the second half as her shot at 26:20 went over the goal and her attempt at 16:05 was wide right.
“We started to settle the ball down,” Musser said. “In the first half, we were just a little too direct, too one-dimensional trying to play the ball through the top.
“In the second half we involved Brooke a little bit more on the outside, got to use her pace and her ball skill which I think started to create some opportunities for us. It was just a matter of we needed to do that a little sooner.”
Seymour’s Kate Connell had a shot off a corner that was blocked and her attempt at 7:25 went over the net.
The Bulldogs put the match out of reach when Olivia Knueven scored at 4:46 and Tristan Rowlet made it 3-0 at 3:25.
The Bulldogs had eight shots and Owls goalie Jessica Hougland was credited with five saves.
Batesville goalie Lilly Wonnell made seven saves.
“We put her under some pressure,” Musser said. “We were a little lacking and crashing the goal and maybe trying to capitalize on some of those rebounds.
“We’ve got some girls that are playing some heavy varsity minutes that really haven’t done that yet and we’re asking a lot out of them. I thought they played their hearts out. Sometimes you leave a loss and you’re upset and sometimes you leave a loss and say ‘we’re close’ and that’s where I’m at right now.”
Batesville won the JV match 2-0.
The Owls will host Salem at 5:30 today for varsity only.