The Lady Indians battled in the Regional championship against the Crown Point Bulldogs on Saturday, Oct. 18, at Benjamin Franklin Middle School. The Indians came out on top with a final score of 2-1.
“I’ve been playing since freshman year, and all we’ve ever won is Sectionals. I’ve never had a Regional championship, and it feels really good,” Tarah Hamby (12) said.
The first goal was scored in the first half by Brianna Dougherty (12), putting the Indians ahead 1-0. Crown Point quickly tied the game up at 1-1.
“We just try to come together, and a lot of the underclassmen know that it could be our last game. They see how much it means to us, and they push themselves,” Hamby said.
Toward the beginning of the second half, Madison Berumen (11) drained a corner kick into Crown Point’s goal, sending the Indians ahead 2-1. The victory did not come with ease, however.
The battle was incredibly physical, landing Alisha Donovan (12) with a red card and Jillian Doan (12) with a yellow card.
“At times, the sportsmanship should have been better, and there should have been some smarter decisions [made],” Lindsay Kusbel (12) said.
Donovan will be deemed ineligible to play in game one of the Semi-State match on Saturday, Oct. 25, at South Bend St. Joseph High School at 10 a.m.
“It made everything so much more intense. My heart was beating fast for all of the minutes she wasn’t there. We had to adjust to it, and it was definitely different. It’s [going to] be hard when she’s not here with us on Saturday, but we’re [going to] make the most of it,” Hamby said.
The varsity girls will face off against the Fisher High School Tigers in game one.
“That’s going to be a big game, but we’re just [going to] practice really hard and make sure we don’t hurt ourselves at practice, ” Hamby said.
