It was a perfect way for the Tippecanoe girls soccer team to begin their second season. The key to the Red Devils is their balance of having multiple players contribute every night. Last Thursday, 12 different girls scored a goal, and the Red Devils cruised past the Bison 12-0 in a game that ended at halftime under the mercy rule.
“We came out quick and scored early and didn’t let up from there,” Tipp coach Brent Palmer said. “It’s the start of a new journey heading into the postseason. We have six more to go. That was the first, and we are happy about it.”
It was one of the fastest starts to a soccer game on Thursday as Tipp didn’t waste any time, scoring nine seconds into the game. Marin Dakin placed one past the Belmont keeper to give Tipp a very quick 1-0 lead.
Twenty seconds later, Kenzie Curry made it 2-0 as she scored, then at 37:57, Julia Burbacher ripped one past the keeper. When the early dust had settled, the Red Devils enjoyed a 3-0 lead.
Lily Fine scored Tipp’s fourth goal at 35:01 and Ellie Lukacs made it 5-0 with 26 minutes left in the opening half.
Three more goals were scored over the next three minutes to give Tipp their eighth goal of the game, the margin needed to end the game at the half. Among those scoring in that span included Paige Royse and Isabelle Mahl.
Tipp scored four more goals in the final 15 minutes of the first half.
“That happened very naturally and organically where 12 different scorers contributed,” Palmer said. “That happened earlier in the year for us also where the ball was just spread around.”
“When you have multiple players you can count on to score goals, you are in a really good spot. We have 5-6 players with 15 or more goal contributions this year, that makes us a very dangerous team.”
One negative from the game was an injury to junior Kelsey Zeh who left the game with a knee injury.
“We are thinking of her, and she just took a nasty knock in the middle,” Palmer said. “You will be hard pressed to find somebody in that locker room that doesn’t love Kelsey. She is a great team player.”
Tipp played the winner of Xenia/Franklin after deadline on Monday night, and the winner returns to the district finals on Thursday night at Xenia High School, starting at 7 p.m.
