Maddie Norman, Bloomington South girls soccer overwhelm sectional field
· Yahoo Sports
MOORESVILLE — This is the breakout Maddie Norman has been waiting for all season.
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She's done it before. The senior had nine goals in last year's trio of sectional games. And on Saturday afternoon, she upped her total to seven this year.
Her hat trick led the Bloomington South girls soccer team to a 7-0 win over host Mooresville in their Class 3A sectional final.
"You never know if we're going to get out or not," Norman said. "There's always that positivity, but I always try to play my hardest. And in practice, we've been working a lot on shooting. So it's definitely helped, working on shots in different scenarios."
It's a bit different though. Last year, Norman was healthy and a 20-goal scorer. This year, following a half-dozen missed games early in the year, she's struggled to pile up the same numbers. She's put that in the past.
"If feels so much better," Norman said. "I was obviously getting annoyed during the season because I only scored four goals. So it feels good to score more than four because ... it just does."
A dozen Panthers scored during the run, but having Norman back to her old self makes a big difference.
"Yeah, hopefully, that gets her on track," South coach David Prall said. "She just needed to find some form. Started a little slow and got injured and hasn't found that rhythm. But that looked more like her."
With Norman's trio of goals on the left side and sophomore Ava Surdam's brace and two assists on the right side, the Panthers took 23 shots to Mooresville's one, 14 on net.
"Ava's definitely helped out a lot," Norman said. "It gave us an opportunity to push Addy (Alexander) back to the mid-field, which is really helping us out. She's really good on the ball."
Her basketball background is helping her pick up the sport.
"She's learning and getting better every week," Prall said. "She's a basketball player, so it's a little more raw, but it's coming every week. Her soccer knowledge is growing every week.
"The physicality those girls play with is a little different. They play with their eyes up a little bit more. I like the crossover that it gives them."
GOOAAALLLL! Hat trick for Maddie Norman. 4-0 South, 44' pic.twitter.com/jC9DUy525P
— Jim Gordillo (@JimGordillo) October 10, 2026
Strong second half by South
Winning another sectional was overwhelming — for the opposition, that is. South hit on all cylinders this week, outscoring its three foes 27-0. Chloe Trinidad had five goals this week as did Alexander and Surdam had four.
"We play a really tough schedule, and it's prepared us to be at our best," Prall said. "Yeah, I thought pretty dominant all the way through."
"I think we've grown a lot this season," Norman added. "And I feel like our team bonding has gotten better. And we just have overall figured out how each other play more, which makes it easier. I think we're ready for Wednesday."
That would be a rematch of last year's regional semi, at home this time, against No. 5 Center Grove (14-1-1), a 3-0 winner over No. 17 East Central. Prall knows the resistance will stiffen from here on out.
"Everybody else the rest of the way, it's going to be more back and forth," he said.
Norman had the first two goals, both off Surdam assists, the first nine minutes in and the second with 16:30 to halftime. It got a bit quiet from there until the break.
Keeper Paloma Martinez had to make just one important diving save early in the game to keep it 1-0. Her next biggest moment was her free kick from just outside the center logo that Surdam bodied to Norman for the second goal.
After halftime, South stormed the net, getting its first shot off in 15 seconds. Before long, Alexander earned a penalty kick and put it deftly away just 1:05 into the final period. Just over two minutes later, Norman had her hat trick and then three minutes later, Carmen Van Rooy made it 5-0.
"We didn't come out and play our best first half," Prall said. "Maybe a little nervy. The second half, we just talked to them, let's calm down and just play. It kind of opened up from there.
"The worry is looking forward, right? Looking forward to that Center Grove game. But we had to take care of business. Great leadership. Paloma, Maddie and (Lizzie) Bucklin really kept us focused on taking care of business here."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Maddie Norman, Bloomington South girls soccer overwhelm sectional field