Bulgier scores 7, Souderton races past Kennett in District 1 first round

FRANCONIA — Underdog Kennett, seeded 21st in the District One Playoffs, came to Souderton Area Tuesday afternoon and built an early 3-2 lead.

But then came Big Red. And there went Big Red.

“All in all, the one thing that’s really big for us is that we’re a fast team and we play really fast,’ said Indians senior midfielder Natalie Bulgier. “So I think we picked up the speed and got out of the lower end, and just kinda took it and ran with it.’

The 12th-seeded Indians raced away to an 18-12 victory that earned Big Red another home playoff contest, a second-round matchup against No. 28 Downingtown West on Thursday.

Big Red is headed to the second round for the first time since 2009.

“It feels phenomenal,’ said Big Red coach Kelly Kelly. “As a 12 seed last year, we got beat, and didn’t get to move on. So this was us kinda coming out and proving that we can move on.

“I think intensity was the difference (in two key stretches). We pulled the girls in and we talked about picking up our aggressiveness, picking up our intensity, and we weren’t using our speed to our advantage.’

Souderton’s speed was unleashed, and no one epitomized that speed more than Bulgier. A member of the U-19 National Team, Bulgier scored five goals in the first half alone, pushing Big Red to a 9-5 lead at the break.

Bulgier was outracing defenders, taking it all the way in to goal, and also firing with accuracy, rifling one in from 12 yards out as part of a 5-0 Souderton run in the first half.

“She’s a heck of a player,’ Kennett coach Dale Watkins said of Bulgier, who scored a game-high seven goals. “They have some very nice players over there. (We put together some runs) but you have to have the ball to win.

“We’re young. We’re very young. We’ll get stronger. We have a really nice group of girls coming back and we