Bloomington South girls soccer state runner-ups set 'new standard' this season

INDIANAPOLIS — Lessons can get lost over the course of 20 years.

Bloomington South girls' soccer coach David Prall is hoping his program won't have to wait that long to have another chance at a state title, so now is the time to build upon the belief they built up this season.

The Panthers had their first ever crack at a Class 3A state title on Saturday at Carroll Stadium in Indianapolis. They belonged there and they knew it, but Noblesville made South pay for each of it's small mistakes in a 3-1 win to repeat as champions.

South (18-3-1), which lost in the 2021 semistate game, broke through new ground this season, leaving just one more step yet to take.

"They set a new standard, obviously, that we can play with anybody," South coach David Prall said. "Hopefully, if we do ever get back, we know what to do."

South started it's postseason run ranked 11th and pulled off two upsets but couldn't get the one they wanted most.

"I think that rankings mean nothing," South senior forward Kat Lacy said. "We're a team and we came out and played our hardest every game and that's all that matters. We always show up. We always show out. I think we did tonight, no matter what the score was.

"I think a lot of people underestimated us with our ranking but it doesn't really matter once you get into the final stages."

Great start for Panthers

Lacy gave South a 1-0 lead just seven minutes in.

The ball was being bounced back and forth around the midfield when Annalise Coyne put a foot into it and sent it long. Lacy got behind the defenders, leaving a 1v1 situation with the keeper that she won, slotting the ball to the lower right.

"Of course its stressful," Lacy said. "1v1 is a lot of pressure on my back but I just set it aside and placed where I needed to."

It was a great opening, but against a team with 26 goals in six postseason games, there was more work to do.

"It was insane," Lacy said. "It felt really good. It was one of those moments but I knew we had to keep going and keep playing."

Three unanswered goals

Noblesville showed its moxie the week before, coming up with three goals in mere minutes to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 win at semistate. They did it again, but in much slower fashion as top scorer Meredith Tippner took over, responding with two goals before halftime.

Tippner tied it up in the 21st minute when her high shot hit the gloves of keeper Palomo Martinez. She couldn't keep control of it, however, and the ball got behind her and trickled in. Tippner was a handful all night as Miller passes continually found her feet.

"She's a good player," Prall said. "She's just a strong runner. She created a lot of problems for us."

Atley Pittman gave Noblesville the lead in the 32nd. A cross into the box was misplayed when a defender took a stab and missed, leaving a wide-open shot from 10-yards out for a 2-1 lead.

It stayed like that until the 64th minute when Tippner sent a cross in that a sliding Sydney Elliott redirected into the net.

"We just missed a couple of clearances and Paloma's been amazing all year," Prall said. "That stuff happens. Down 2-1 at half, I still thought we could hold it from there, maybe, and wait another chance but another good play by (Tippner). It was a good cross."

And a knock out punch. South was never able to respond, with no shots on goal in the second half.

No more goals for South

Noblesville {17-1-3) consistently shutdown South's ability to make connections in the midfield while maintaining foot-to-foot contact themselves.

"It was hard to get balls out through the midfield, which is where we normally work," Lacy said. "So I think that's where we kind of struggled."

The Panthers most dangerous threats often came on balls over the top, like the one to Lacy, or other longer lead passes they could track down.

"It was tough to play," Prall said. "I thought it was churning a little bit. I don't think they were passing around us, but they were completing more passes than we did. Just second balls and stuff that we needed to find a little more.

"I think we played hard all the way through, so I thought they represented themselves well. You play games like this, it's still preventable things."

Now the returning Panthers know the kind of play that's expected in order to win a state title.

"They can see it," Prall said. "It's right there. It's hard to get here so it's a great stage to be at. They represented themselves well, we just didn't quite get it done."

South's Coyne honored by IHSAA

South midfielder Annalise Coyne was named the recipient of the Theresia Wynns Mental Attitude Award for 3A girls.

The athlete honored must be nominated by the her principal and coach, must excell in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability in soccer.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X (Twitter) @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South girls soccer state runner-ups set 'new standard'