North Putnam girls' soccer lose tough one to Terre Haute South

North Putnam senior Anna Sims demonstrates her defensive skills earlier this season, knocking the ball down in her own zone. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

ROACHDALE -- The North Putnam Cougars girls' soccer team welcomed the Terre Haute Braves to their home field and partook in the first ever Cougar-Brave showdown. The visitors went home happy, coming away with a 4-0 victory.

Both teams struggled to gain any momentum on the night and a couple lucky headers off of corner kicks for the Braves made the difference.

The Braves scored first with 34:45 left in the first half when junior Eleanor Carre's kick saw the back of the net.

The Cougar defense played extremely well and held the Braves for 33 minutes before they scored again.

"Our defense, our triangle -- (freshman) Kaelynn Abner, (freshman) Emilee Henninger, and (senior) Anna Sims -- played phenomenal tonight. They set up and worked on not allowing very many shots from the center of the field," North Putnam head coach Willie Gaskins said.

The final goal of the half came with 1:10 remaining as junior Emily Thurston booted one to the back of the net.

The Cougars defense performed very well but the offense was another story. NPHS got off no shots in the first half and only crossed the midline with possession three times.

The Cougars got off to a better start to the second half as the they crossed the midline with possession 12 times and got three shots at the net.

"The team as a whole in the second half played a lot better than the first," Gaskins said. "We always come out slow for some reason, but they really picked it up in the second half."

The scoring continued for the Braves in the game when sophomore Anne Hubbard translated a perfect corner kick into a perfect header with 31:23 left in the game to go up 3-0.

"The last header that they put in, there's nothing they could do about it. The girl placed it so perfectly, no keeper would have stopped it," Gaskins said.

Sophomore Claire Sims was a bright spot once again saving 14 shots on goal.

"Claire played amazing tonight," Gaskins said. "She knew that she had to go up against a team that would put a shot at her any chance they could."

The defense held again for seven minutes before senior Abby Pigg put the ball in the net on a free kick from 30 yards out for the last score with 24:48 left in the game.

The Cougars had some good runs at the goal in the final 15 minutes but each time were turned away.

"The goals tonight were unlucky bounces and deflections and one was a hard free kick that got past the wall," Gaskins said.

When the Cougars can perform as well on offense night in and night out as they do on defense, the team and coach Gaskins really have something to look forward too as they look toward sectionals.

North Putnam plays at North Montgomery on Thursday at 5 p.m.

At North Putnam
Terre Haute South 2 2 -- 4
North Putnam 0 0 -- 0