By RYAN WALKER
MONROEVILLE — It was the tale of two halves for Norwell in Wednesday night soccer.
The Knights (9-5) scored four goals in the second half as opposed to their one goal in the first half, ultimately winning 5-1 over non-conference foe Heritage (4-8-1).
The team came out flat against an inferior Patriots team, leaving the first 40 minutes with a 1-1 tie. Grace Mann picked up the first goal, dribbling her way down the field and forcing a one-on-one with the goaltender, as she did most of the night.
The Patriots responded eight minutes later, and both teams failed to score by the break.
Head coach Dan Batdorff talked to his team before the game, wanting them to play better in the first half. The night before, Northeast 8 rival DeKalb put up four goals on Norwell in a 5-1 defeat. So when the Knights did the opposite, the coaching staff emphasized adjustments.
“It’s hard to come out and play the way we did the first half and we didn’t play well against DeKalb either,” Batdorff said. “I wanted to see it. We talked about it before the game coming out strong and showing energy, and we didn’t do it. The second half is very, very important. We had to see that.”
The next four goals all went to Norwell.
Mann netted three in a row, aided by her defense and forwards getting her the ball and letting the Creighton University commit work her magic.
She put the game away right before the 20-minute mark, hitting her third and fourth goals and scoring her seventh hat trick of the season. The four-goal game was also her fourth time doing it.
“The first half, we were playing slow, lethargic and we didn’t really play well,” Batdorff said. “We really challenged them at halftime to come out and had to step up. I think you started to see that with them. Overall, I think the team did better.”
Kayleigh Hartup scored the final goal for Norwell to make it 5-1. Shae Brooks had two assists on the goals and Alaina Barnhart had one. Abby Wagner was the goaltender.
Mann’s four goals now puts her in ninth place in the state of Indiana with 31, according to MaxPreps.
She could have a chance to improve that number significantly by the end of the season as well, and she’s scored in every game outside of DeKalb from the night before.
She’s feasted off of teams with losing records, and for the Knights’ remaining two games in the regular season, they’re both losing records. Huntington North (2-10-2) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1 will be the first opportunity and Woodlan (4-6) the next day will be the second.
Norwell also won the junior varsity match 2-0. Emma Lenwell and Kaylee Bennett scored for Norwell, assisted by Daniela Claudio and Maggie Neuenschwander.
Maggie Neuenschwander and Emma Garner helped pitch the shutout.
ryan@news-banner.com
