11th Region girls’ soccer: Injury-riddled Madison Central advances past Franklin County

A deflection off the crossbar fell into a scrum of Madison Central players, making it a bit unclear who scored the deciding goal in the Indians’ 1-0 win over Franklin County in the first round of the 11th Region girls’ soccer tournament Monday night at Woodford County.

Kelsey Napier was announced as the goal scorer, but the players gave credit to sophomore Kelsey Powell when they came to the sidelines. Indians Coach Chris Dunham didn’t mind which Kelsey put the ball through in the 73rd minute.

“All I know is a bunch of people hoarded around there, so it’s a goal, and I’ll take it,” Dunham said with a laugh. “Nobody really knew it when over the line but that line judge was in the right spot, so thank God he got it. We’ll take it.”

Madison Central advanced out of the first round for the second straight season. Franklin County, the highest-scoring team in the 11th Region with 85 goals coming in, was unable to come up with a score to help it become the first team in program history to advance in a regional.

Dunham wasn’t thrilled with his team’s energy in the first half.

“We talked about having some intensity and coming out like you want to play this game a little bit (at halftime),” Dunham said. “It was a completely different second half, more box to box then anybody owning possession.”

The Indians’ injury report this season reads almost like a complete team roster: two lost to ACL tears, two to meniscus tears and two girls — leading goal scorer Olivia Swafford and four-year defensive starter Madison Whittaker — currently in concussion protocol. That’ll make their semifinals rematch with Henry Clay — a team they defeated last year en route to an 11th Region finals appearance — all the more difficult.

“I’m not looking forward to either one of those teams,” Dunham said with a grin. “We’ll take the win, and we’ll go from there.”

This story was originally published October 17, 2016 at 8:49 PM with the headline "11th Region girls’ soccer: Injury-riddled Madison Central advances past Franklin County."