JEFFERSONVILLE — The 2024 girls’ soccer postseason kicked off on Tuesday night in Jeffersonville, as the Owls battled New Albany in the opening round of sectionals.

The Bulldogs (12-4-1) led by Ella Higbie, went undefeated in Hoosier Hills Conference play at 6-0 this season.

Seymour fell to New Albany 5-1, ending their season. Owls head coach Greg Musser spoke on the outcome of the match afterwards.

“We knew it was going to be a tough battle against New Albany,” Musser said. They won conference this year and we knew we had to be prepared and ready to go.”

The Bulldogs scored three goals in the opening 20 minutes, putting the Owls in a hole that was too big to climb out of. Bailey Belden scored in the fifth minute to open the game and Sam Young and Higbie scored in the 16th and 19th minutes to make it 3-0.

Seymour battled to the end and that is something that Musser is proud of.

“It would have been very easy for us to give up after giving up three goals kind of early in the game,” Musser said. “Our girls did not quit, and it was one heck of a showing of heart that we had. We got that goal to make it a two-score game and made it a game again, so I’m very proud of our heart and response to those three early goals.”

Katy Roark scored the lone goal for the Owls in the 33rd minute. Kenzi Henkle would have scored if there were a couple more seconds in the first half, beating the keeper after the time expired.

Beldon scored again for New Albany in the second half, before Avery Holder added the final score for the Bulldogs.

It was a very physical contest throughout and New Albany prevailed, clinching a spot in the sectional semifinal tomorrow against Jennings County.

Seymour ended their 2024 season with a 3-15 record. Musser said this season was a life experience and these girls never quit no matter what.

“It’s life lessons you are learning,” Musser said. “You get thrown adversity all throughout this year and they still showed up every day ready to work and get better, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Seniors Alessandra Dominguez and Rochiely Zarate-Gibson spoke on the performance in their final game for the Owls.

“I think we played pretty well as a team,” Dominguez said. “We just played with our hearts, there were some injuries with people going down, but we had people ready. We just went out there and did a good job. It’s sad after this loss, considering we’re finished playing soccer, but it was totally worth it, no matter how this season ended.”

Gibson was taken out in the second half after appearing to be hurt but went back in after being looked at on the sidelines. She truly gave her all to be out on the field.

“I thought we did alright as a team, I tried to do as much as I could on the field,” Gibson said. “I’ve been with some of these girls for a couple of years now, so if I’m not playing for myself, I’m playing for them. They play hard for all of us no matter what. It was a tough loss, but I think as we bonded on and off the field, the season got better.”

Dominguez spoke about her season and role being a senior in 2024.

“We all push each other during practices. It’s also a good experience being a senior and giving my knowledge to the younger players,” Dominguez said. “We all really like each other and go to school together and it’s a great time in class and on the field.”

Both girls enjoyed spending time with each other during their Seymour soccer careers. They spoke about their favorite memories.

“I really enjoyed going to tournaments and building our teamwork,” Dominguez said. “Making memories from the time I was a freshman, leading all the way to my senior year. You realize that you have made so many good memories with your team.”

Gibson agreed and enjoyed eating a lot of candy.

“I think getting to go the tournaments like Ali said,” Gibson said. “Those are really nice, and you get to bond with your teammates. You get to go through the winning and losing together and eating a bunch of candy and getting sick.”

Coach Musser spoke about his seniors, including Dominguez, Gibson, Mia Sullivan, Juana Juan, Emma Braman, Brylee Ramsey, Emma Woodard, Gabby Guzman, Ana Dominguez, Mia Villegas and Tatiana Stalker.

“It’s hard every year to say goodbye to these girls,” Musser said. “It’s tough to have them go out this way after one of our lesser successful seasons in terms of record.”

He thanked them for all their time and appreciated that they continued to work through it all.

“These girls showed up and never complained or put their heads down,” Musser said. “It was a great showing from our seniors, and we are going to miss them.”

Gibson was asked about the biggest lesson she’s learned in her soccer career.

“The biggest thing is understanding that you don’t know everything,” Gibson said. “You still have so much to learn and losing actually helped us learn a lot about ourselves. That is more important to me than winning and being cocky. We won together and lost together and that taught us a lot.”

Moving onto 2025 are the Owls, who will begin preparation in the coming months for their next season. Coach Musser was asked about what he will be focusing on.

“It’s learning. We had a bunch of new kids get into the mix a little bit and learning the system,” Musser said. “Teaching some of the things with tactical, but a lot of it needs to be focusing on the technical work. There will be a heavy emphasis on our technical work throughout the winter and the spring.”

Sectional 15 — Jeffersonville

New Albany 5, Seymour 1

Scoring

First half

NA: Bailey Belden, (5th minute)

NA: Sam Young, (16th minute)

NA: Ella Higbie, (19th minute)

S: Katy Roark, (33rd minute)

Second Half

NA: Bailey Belden (Ella Higbie), 65th minute

NA: Avery Holder, (72nd minute)