Floyd not bothered by underdog role

Recrowned sectional champion Floyd Central believes it has a chance of upsetting No. 17 state ranked Columbus North on its home turf in tomorrow night's girls’ soccer regional final (7 p.m.).

The Highlanders (9-7-4), which secured it seventh title with a 2-1 win over Providence Saturday night, may be going into the game with the Bulldogs (17-1-1) as the underdogs, but Lewie Stevens' girls are not bothered about rankings or records.

" I don't think the ranking will faze our girls," said Stevens. "We played a quality schedule early and our kids know that the rankings are fairly subjective. We tied Jennings and felt like we gave away the loss to Columbus East so we know we can play with North. That probably is motivational for our kids.”

In fact, Floyd Central's sole regional title was won against Columbus North by a 1-0 scoreline in 2000, when Stevens and assistant Lynn Kaiser were at the helm. And the pair feel its squad is hitting its peak at the right time to repeat that feat.

"They have been getting better every game since about the fifth game of the season and it really showed Saturday," said Stevens. “We feel that we are playing our best soccer right now and that we have to earn the respect of our opponents.

“I didn't sense a lot of nervousness from them prior to the sectional championship. They are all veterans of club ball tournaments and have been here before last year as well."

Columbus North's Emily Wheeler and Chelsea Roberts may have bagged 17 and 14 goals respectively, while defender Abby Pence and midfielder Sarah Orisich are on a "Top Watch" list for 2008, but Floyd Central is not without its talent either.

Nikki Korte rose her game to another level against Providence on Saturday; Brigid Morrissey would probably make most schools' teams in the State at left back; and the Highlanders are blessed with three forwards in April Vanderplow, Becky Kennedy and Kelsey Traughber that are capable game winners.

"We know that there is really no magic bullet that gets you over the hurdle,” said Stevens. “I really think that we have to play hard and intensely but more than that, we have to play smart. Against a quality opponent, all the little details we have worked on all year come into play.

"Most of it has to do with movement away from the ball and staying under control. Don't devolve into a kickball game. Keep your composure and play the game the way we are capable of doing. If we do that we know that we will be in a position to advance.”

Stevens said North, who beat rivals Columbus East on penalty kicks Saturday after a 2-2 draw, will get chances, but they don’t want to panic.

“Against a team like North that is going to happen,” he said. “How we respond will probably be the measure of the game.”

Regional title goes North

It was a good day for Columbus North (15-4-2) Saturday as the school also won the boys' regional title at Floyd Central, beating Madison 3-0.

Alex Abedian - who scored a hat-trick against the Highlanders in the semi-final on Wednesday - shot the Bulldogs ahead in the opening minutes and added a second with 15 minutes remaining.

The game was put to bed five minutes from time courtesy of Louie Souza. It was North's ninth consecutive game without conceding a goal.

The Bulldogs will play No 1 ranked Evansville Memorial (18-0-3) in the semi-state championship at Evansville Central this Saturday.