Bloomington High School North Girls Soccer

The North Girls Soccer Team had its best season ever in 2008, ending with a 16-4-2 record and playing in the semistate final game. In the semistate games, the Cougars beat #20 Columbus North before falling to Evansville Memorial in the final game.

Bloomington High School North has had varsity soccer teams since 1990. In the early years, a single varsity team played that was open to both boys and girls, but in 1994 a separate girl's team was created. Tyler Caldwell was one of the teams' first coaches. Losing to South in the playoffs in its first two years, the program took its first step forward in 1996 by beating Bloomington High School South for the first time, eventually bowing out to powerful Center Grove in the ectional.

Coach Azure Johnson later took the reins, but South continued to dominate their crosstown rivals, taking every sectional matchup but one for the next decade. (In 2001, under coach George Bull, the Cougars took the sectional championship by beating first South and then Edgewood High School behind goalie Erin Jeffers.) Going into 2008, South held a 20-4-4 series edge over the Cougars.

Coach Bull, who left the program in 2006, was 53-45-16 over seven seasons and is the winningest coach in the program's history. In Bull's second year, North posted its best season ever to that date, going 11-5-2 and earning its first sectional title. They matched that record in 2003, and in 2004 North shut out its last 10 opponents.

The 2008 version of the team, under coach Erin Hesselbach, was a powerhouse. The team set school records for wins and shutouts, and won both the sectional and regional championships behind sophomore Ann Zerfas before bowing out in the semistate matchups.

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