WEST LAFAYETTE — Alex Ehrlich clapped his hands to show encouragement.
His Crawfordsville girls soccer team lifted their heads one more time, but finally fell in defeat at the final horn, 5-0, to West Lafayette in the Sectional 25 quarterfinals Wednesday at the Red Devil soccer complex.
“We put up a fight,” Ehrlich said. “Many times our touches weren’t what we wanted them to be. They had numbers in the middle and when the ball was there they had the advantage.”
The hosts struck three times in the first half. Senior Malavika Sujith broke through the Athenian defense and kicked past CHS sophomore goalkeeper Madison Martin in the fifth minute. Sujith added her second goal in minute 36. Lauren Kovich had the other WL score. Kovich and Stella Teel added goals in the second half.
“We had opportunities to make tackles that just didn’t happen. They have some talented center midfielders and forwards. They were quick and played balls well through my defense.”
CHS biggest threat in the first half was consecutive corner kicks in the 10th minute. Both shots near the front went awry.
Offensively, CHS had to deal with errant passing and inability to convert near the net against a tough Red Devil defense. The visitors’ defense showed some pressure at times on the pitch, but also was in recovery mode much of the match.
“We struggled to finish, but we played very aggressively so I was proud of that.”
The Red Devils (10-5-2) outshot the Athenians (9-7) 21-14, including 13-4 in the first half. Martin had eight saves. Bree Johnson turned away six shots for WL. CHS’ season comes to an end with the defeat. Ehrlich praised seniors Riley Gardner, a four-year starter; Litzy Huesca, Caedence Brown, Samantha Rivera, Mackenzie Lawton, Marleigh Sinnet and Zari Freeze.
“Hard to replace the leadership and a lot of great times. They were always willing to learn.”
He also looks forward to reloading for 2025.
“I’m excited to see growth in our sophomores and freshmen. They have a next-man-up mentality and they’re eager to go in.”
