By RYAN WALKER
Norwell had no issues winning the girls’ soccer sectional quarterfinal 7-1 over Woodlan Tuesday night.
Grace Mann netted four of the seven goals to continue her spectacular sophomore season. She leads the team and Northeast 8 Conference with 21 goals, also good for 10th in all of 2A.
“Having Grace in there is just amazing,” head coach Dan Batdorff said after the match. “The girl can do so much. She’s a phenomenal player.”
The offensive explosion extended to Aubrey Meyer, Oliva Daniel, and Karrigan Melcher, holding the rest of the goals.
Batdorff said that one of the objectives on Tuesday was to push the ball to the outside rather than going up the middle on through balls. The change in style can produce different ways to score and involves good passing.
Six of the seven goals were by assists: Makenzie Fuess (3), Morgan Batdorff (2), and Melcher (1) were credited with them.
The entire Knights unit was getting action on the stat sheet, which is exactly what Batdorff likes to see.
“The whole team was getting involved,” Batdorff said. “We made it to the outside a little bit more tonight, which we’ve been pressing up the middle. It’s one of the things that we’ve been practicing, and I thought they did a good job with that.”
With the win, Norwell advances to the semi-final on Thursday at. 5 p.m. The Knights are the hosts throughout the tournament.
Norwell will be faced with a big challenge, though. The No. 4 in 2A Bellmont (13-2-2) Braves, who took care of Marion Tuesday night 11-0, will be coming to town.
The past two meetings have gone Bellmont’s way, but Norwell, who is unranked, has made it a match both times.
Last year, the Braves eliminated the Knights in the sectional 2-1 in what was a thriller. Norwell went up 1-0 on Mann’s goal, but the Braves scored the final two in the second half to advance and eventually fall in the regional championship.
This season, Bellmont won a close one, 1-0.
The Braves have been a thorn in the side of the Knights, but perhaps this could be the matchup that finally changes it all.
“I talked to the girls tonight and equated this as a three-day mountain to climb,” Batdorff said. “We just cleared the first hurdle. We’ve got the first bridge done, and now we’ve got the steepest, most tactical one. We’ve got to climb Bellmont.”
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