Greencastle bows out of sectional in opener

Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Greencastle senior Sarah Beam (6) tries to poke the ball away from Southmont's Casey Cating in Monday's sectional opener.

A quick goal by Southmont put Greencastle in a position from which it was never able to recover from in the opening game of the Greencastle Class A No. 42 girls' soccer sectional. The Tiger Cubs lost to the Mounties 4-1 to end its season.

In spite of the loss, GHS head coach Maurice McKee said his team left everything on the pitch from Monday's game.

"They played their best game tonight that they played probably all season long," McKee said. "They knew they had to do it on this game. If they didn't put it all on the ground, it wasn't going to make any difference after tonight. There's a bunch of teary-eyed girls now because they really wanted it."

Southmont's Stephanie Martin scored less than a minute into the game to put the Tiger Cubs down 1-0, but they had no intention of making it easy for the Mounties.

Greencastle's Rebecca Sampson broke free from the pack and made a move on Southmont keeper Cheyenne Nace to put Greencastle on the board with 28:25 on the clock. Greencastle failed to score for the remainder of the half, but watched as Martin added two more goals to give the Mounties a sizable lead.

Martin scored at the 27:56 mark and finished up her hat trick with 4:15 left before the half. With a big lead, Southmont pressured the Tiger Cub even more in the second half, adding it's final goal of the night when Hallie McCain scored with 24:11 on the clock in the second half.

Greencastle continued to fight throughout the second half, but were never able to threaten the Mounties lead. McKee acknowledge the change of tactics for Southmont in the second half.

"Especially in the second half, we spent way too much time on our end of the field," McKee said. "They subbed a lot and that takes up time and they know that. That's a tactic too and that's part of it.

"We don't want to see the time used up for subs, but that's part of it. The girls played very well," he added.

While he wasn't happy with the loss, McKee was happy with the strides his team made during the season.

"I'm very pleased. This team beat us in regular season 7-2, so when we're sitting here 3-1 at the half, I'm very pleased. The girls have come a long way in a short amount of time," McKee said.

Greencastle bids farewell to seniors Mackenzie Meyer and Sarah Beams, but with talent coming in from the middle school and the returning players, McKee is optimistic about next season.

"I think there'll be a big difference when they come back in next year," McKee said. "And there are a few more people moving up from eighth grade that will be freshmen coming in that have been playing rec-plus travel team. I think they'll see a little bit different team next year. We're only losing two seniors, which are two good players and the others will have to step up and make the places and take care of them."

At Greencastle

Greencastle 1 0 -- 1

Southmont 3 1 -- 4

First Half

SM -- Martin

GHS -- Sampson 28:25

SM -- Martin 27:56

SM -- Martin 4:15

Second Half

SM -- McCain 24:11