It might not have been the original plan, but the strategy that No. 17 Brownsburg followed to win its Avon Regional showdown with Roncalli Oct. 22 was pretty simple: Strike early and hang on for dear life.
The Bulldogs raced to a 2-0 halftime lead and then survived an action-filled second half to prevail, 3-2, and advance to this Saturday’s North Central (Indianapolis) Semistate. Brownsburg (14-5-2) will challenge No. 8 Indianapolis Cathedral at 10 a.m. ET, with the winner facing either top-ranked Noblesville (17-0-2) or No. 18 East Central (17-1-3) Saturday evening.
It did not look early as though this game would be nearly the struggle it became. Brownsburg dented the net just under 10 minutes into the game on a goal by Darcy Falcone, and the Bulldogs continued their dominance when Savanna Bunn scored at the 15-minute mark.
The lead held up until halftime as the Bulldogs bottled up Roncalli’s offense, with the Rebels not registering a shot on goal in the first 40 minutes.
All that changed quickly in the second half. Roncalli put all-out pressure on the Brownsburg goal from the outset, and it paid immediate dividends as Tina Follis found the net just over two minutes into the half to cut the lead to 2-1.
From that point on, the action was wild to say the least. Both teams managed six shots on goal over the final 40 minutes, and the verdict was in doubt until the very end.
Brownsburg increased the margin to 3-1 on a goal by Nicole Duncan with just under six minutes to play, but Roncalli responded just over a minute later to make it 3-2. The Rebels mounted significant pressure over the last four minutes, but to no avail.
Next up for Brownsburg is the Saturday meeting with Cathedral, a 2-1 regional overtime upset winner over North Central.
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