Lapel doesn't look the part of a 2nd-year program. 'There's so much talent on this team'

You wouldn't guess Lapel is a second-year program. Certainly not after watching them over the final 40 minutes of Tuesday's 6-2 victory over Scecina Memorial in the Class A Sectional 43 quarterfinals. But talk with the players, and they'll tell you that after spending the summer focused on fundamentals, they just "kind of winged it" through the first few games of the 2023 campaign.

"But it took us here," laughed freshman Leila Wilson, who scored four goals to help secure the Bulldogs' first-ever state tournament win. "We're just talking, you know, communicating with each other and trying to tell each other what we can do to improve."

Girls soccer: 26 players to watch during IHSAA sectionals

"That's been the best thing and so beneficial to this team," added senior Jocelyn Love, who scored her team-leading 26th goal of the season. "We're all just helping each other."

Wilson and Love are unique to the Bulldogs in that they both have soccer backgrounds.

Wilson has played for a while now as a member of Carmel FC. The first-year phenom's four-goal outing — the third of her career — gave her 18 goals on the season, third-most on the team, and broke a 4-4 tie in the second half. Her first two tallies were perhaps her most impressive. The first came on a breakaway opportunity wherein Wilson beat the defense to a through ball, took a few dribbles and buried a shot past the keeper; the second was blasted in from the top of the box off a volley from Love.

"She's an amazing player," senior Kristyn Davis said. "She's quick and her footwork's amazing."

"Leila has a competitive edge to her," coach Chad Soden added. "She knew in the first half she didn't play really well. … She woke up later in the game and that was huge. She's physical, competitive, fast and I think she gives confidence to other players."

Love quit travel soccer a few years ago to focus on basketball, then quit altogether two years ago as she transferred from Noblesville to Lapel.

Well, she's back and it's like she's never left.

The team's leading scorer with 26 goals, Love has the footwork and athleticism of an experienced soccer player. She scored her lone goal in the second half vs. Scecina, but could have had a few more plus a couple dazzling assists. There were multiple occasions when Scecina successfully flushed Love towards the outside as she made her run, but she maintained just enough of an angle to either direct a shot towards the goal (she had a few chances that sailed above the crossbar) or throw a pass across the box to a teammate.

"It's been fun getting her back into it," Soden said, describing Love as the full package. "She helps us a lot and she creates so much for us."

Those two are more the "exception" to the Lapel soccer roster.

More players are similar to Davis — and that's part of what's allowed the Bulldogs to have such success this year.

Davis, whose primary sport is softball, and a few friends decided to join the soccer team for its inaugural season in 2022, and she enjoyed it enough to come back again this fall.

She's fast as heck, super athletic … and the team's second-leading scorer this season with 21 goals and three assists.

"She's what we needed," Wilson said. "The speed is just always there."

"You wouldn't think it's a second-year program. There's so much talent on this team," Love added. "Everyone's so athletic and they pick things up really fast."

The talent is there and the experience is slowly coming with time.

The trick, Soden said, is getting everyone to believe.

Along those lines: The regular season certainly helped. Lapel (15-2) opened with a 2-1 win over Tipton, and have since picked up victories over Lebanon, Wapahani and Muncie Burris.

Tuesday's triumph over Scecina is the Bulldogs' third straight and eighth in the past nine games. They started slow against the Crusaders, but believe if they can replicate their second-half performance, they'll have a chance to "shock the world" against defending Class A state champion Park Tudor on Thursday.

"We're going to play as hard as we can, but sectionals are different," said Soden, whose team was tied 2-2 at halftime. "We found out tonight what tournament and sectional play is about. It was good for us to have to fight for a while. That'll help us Thursday."

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA girls soccer: Lapel ahead of the curve as second-year program.