By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – Hamilton Heights senior Sarah Toll kicked her way into the Huskies’ record book last Saturday.
The Heights senior scored a school record five goals for her team during its 9-0 win over Frankfort. The Reporter caught up with Toll and Huskies coach Travis Kauffman after the Class 2A No. 17 Huskies scored a 4-0 win over new Hoosier Conference opponent Logansport on Thursday.
As all great players do, Toll gave credit to her teammates after her performance – “I didn’t do it by myself,” she said. Toll also overcame what she felt was a shaky start in the game.
“I think the first half I was not doing so hot,” said Toll. “My passes were off and my shots were off. But I think the team in the second half pulled it together and had really good passes. Natalie Marcum, especially, she had really great assists.”
Marcum had four assists against Frankfort and scored two goals. Senior Lizzy Smith and sophomore Kylee Long also had one goal, with Long dishing out an assist.
Toll said she was focused on the game and not thinking about the number of goals she scored – “I didn’t know it was a school record,” she said. That made it all the more fun for Kauffman.
“You know they’re not playing for the record,” said Kauffman. “It’s not an individual thing. We want it to be a team effort. I actually wasn’t aware of how many she had, because in the course of the game, she works her tail off. The goals weren’t simple and easy. They had to work for them.”
Toll is one of six seniors on the team, joining Savannah Deetz, Addyson Ferguson, Zoe Pugh, Smith and Marcum. The Huskies also have five freshmen on the team, along with three juniors and two sophomores.
“It’s certainly had its ups and down,” said Kauffman of the season. “We’ve got a lot of young players getting minutes for the first time at the varsity level. So, we’ve got a standard, a level we know we can play at, and we’ve been working all year to try and play 80 minutes to that standard.”
Toll and Marcum both scored two goals for Heights against Logansport, with Marcum and Long each making one assist. Junior goalkeeper Audrey Lang had seven saves.
The Huskies are 8-1-3 and will play in the Hoosier Conference tournament starting next week. Heights has the top seed, so they will await the winner of Monday’s game between Rensselaer Central and Twin Lakes before playing a first-round game. The Huskies play that contest Tuesday at Lafayette Central Catholic.
“I think that if we continue to work together, like how we’ve been playing a little bit in the second half of most of our games, if we continue to play a full 80 minutes of that, then I think that we’ll be able to make it far in conference,” said Toll. “But I think we need to work for it. It’s not just going to come easy to us.”
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Sheridan, the No. 8-ranked team in 1A, dropped a hard-fought away game at 2A No. 8 Brebeuf Jesuit 2-0 on Thursday.
The Blackhawks played aggressively, getting the first shot of the game and defending the Braves’ attack well. Brebeuf scored its first goal off a corner kick with 15 minutes left in the first half. The Braves scored their second goal on a penalty kick with eight minutes left in the game.
But Sheridan fought for the entire game. The Blackhawks made adjustments at halftime, and with that, coach Brian Prange said they “were able to possess the ball more, find the wings and make Brebeuf adjust to them.”
Freshman goalkeeper Avery Hills made eight saves.
Sheridan is 8-4-1 and plays a Hoosier Heartland Conference game Monday at Eastern.
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