EVANSVILLE — Bad ankle, no problem.
Memorial’s Avery Slade nursed an ankle injury heading into Saturday’s Class 2A semistate matchup against Tri-West. Still, Slade and her team of “best friends” dismantled Tri-West’s defense.
Memorial won the ball back in midfield and sent a long ball over the top to the junior forward, who finished with ease for the Tigers with 33:36 left in the first half of the Class 2A semistate contest at Evansville North.
Slade secured her brace and 36th goal of the year less than four minutes later after receiving another stellar pass from the midfield. Tri-West allowed one goal in five postseason games entering Saturday. It allowed four in the first half. Memorial defeated Tri-West 6-0.
Slade caused problems for Tri-West during the entire game. Malicoat called her the “best player” Tri-West competed against all season.
“Sitting out of practice (this week), it made me really want to take it out in this game,” Slade said. “I went to the doctor, went to physical therapy and was working to get back on the field. And we did that, and now we're going to state. So I'm pretty excited.”
Malicoat said he had an “idea” of how Memorial would play. Strong. Physical. Dominant. His prediction was right. Though Tri-West absorbed Memorial’s pressure at times, Malicoat acknowledged it was too much to handle.
“We got down on ourselves a little bit,” Malicoat said. “I don’t think we really gave up, but we just struggled to find the confidence that we needed whenever we got down a couple goals.”
Tri-West dominated possession during games throughout the season. Coach Dustin Malicoat didn’t expect to have as much against Memorial. Tri-West struggled to hold the ball in midfield and couldn’t produce on offense.
Lensing countered Tri-West’s box midfield with a rotating triangle. She wanted the Tigers to mark whoever was closest to the ball and defend without trying to match up. She foresaw a “battle.” And her team won.
The Bruins scored 110 goals this season and 16 in five postseason games. They registered zero shots in the opening 10 minutes. Memorial had 12 shots on goal. Tri-West had four.
“They were just so physical and so quick to transition from offense to defense that it really made us struggle in our transition,” Malicoat said. “Our downfall today was the lack of our transition speed and that was their strong suit,” Malicoat said.
Sophomore Ava Voelkel scored Memorial's third goal with 19:43 left in the first half. Just over eight minutes later, senior forward Caringtyn Sturgeon found the back of the net. The Tigers have scored 113 goals as a team, including 40 in six postseason games. Sophomore forward Sophie Blankenberger and senior midfielder Ella Elpers scored Memorial’s two second-half goals.
”We played a few different formations all year but we knew going inwith the 4–3-3 was probably our best offensively because of our three people up front and our strong midfield,” Memorial coach Angie Lensing said. “We were able to get behind them, and us getting to the end line helped a lot. We produced a lot of crosses from both sides, and that just gave us numbers up in the box.”
Memorial (19-2-1) will play Guerin Catholic (9-7-2) for the Class 2A state title Friday or Saturday at IU Indy’s Michael Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium. Malicoat and the Bruins are rooting for the Tigers. “At least we can say we lost to the winners,” Malicoat joked. Tri-West’s 20-game win streak ended Saturday. The Bruins’ time is yet to come. But Malicoat knows a trip to state is within reach.
“From our starters today, we only have one senior who started today's game. So next year, I can easily see us both being right back here again. Now we know the level we need to get to,” Malicoat said. “Let's do the work in the offseason and with our club teams, and then come back next summer and get busy to be better prepared for this next year.”
Guerin defeated Memorial at semistate in 2023. Slade was the ball girl. Now she’s leading the team with “redemption” on her mind.
“We've all been a family, and we've faced adversity the past couple of years, getting out in the postseason a bit earlier than we thought we would,” Slade said. “This team is redemption for my past two years.
“There's a lot of heart in this team that's going to take us really far. That’s why we can make it.”
Joshua Heron covers the Fever, college sports and enterprise stories for IndyStar. Follow him on Twitter at @JoshEHeron. Marc Ray is the high school soccer reporter at the IndyStar. He can be reached at marc.ray@indystar.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Avery Slade leads Evansville Memorial to state over Tri-West despite ankle injury