Greencastle falls to Cascade, earns second place in WIC

Sunday, September 27, 2015
Madeline Graham dribbles the ball up the pitch avoiding the Cascade defense during the WIC crossover game Saturday. Despite a strong surge the GHS girls lost 1-0. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

The Greencastle boys' and girls' soccer teams played host to Edgewood and Cascade Saturday for the WIC crossover game.

The Tiger Cub boys played first for third-place in the WIC. They fell 3-2 despite a strong surge in the final minutes.

The Lady Tiger Cubs took on Cascade afterward and despite more than 10 decent shots at the goal, Greencastle fell 1-0.

The girls' match may have been low scoring, but it was anything but uneventful. Cascade held the most control in the early parts of the match however many of the Cadet shots were thwarted by Claire Gillen.

Early in the first half, a Cascade player had a clear shot at the goal off a lucky bounce but her shot was tracked by Gillen who made the difficult save.

It wasn't the last save she made in the half. Gillen was able to dive and gain control of the ball twice, each time Cascade had a player there to challenge.

However just before the half, one Cascade shot was too perfect for even Gillen to get to and Cascade went up 1-0.

"With respect to sectional," GHS coach Angie Weeks said. "I believe in taking this intensity and this playing with heart. The sectional opens up and it's a whole new ball game. I'm hoping the girls can take that intensity and do that."

The second half saw more saves from Gillen and more attacks from the Tiger Cubs.

Amelia Smith, Erin Thomas and Katie Rose Parsons all took decent shots with the game in the balance. Despite these shots and a penalty kick late in the game the Tiger Cubs were unable to force the tie.

"Getting caught off-guard a few plays caused the loss," Weeks said. "I believe they are going to start off the sectionals really strong."

The Tiger Cubs should have all the motivation they need, as their sectional opponent will be North Putnam.

GHS played the Lady Cougars early in the season in a match that ended in a 1-1 tie. The two Putnam County teams will have now a chance to settle that match at Crawfordsville and play for the Golden Boot.

"I'm very proud of them this entire season," Weeks said. "I know this is the first time they've done a conference game. Until the last buzz they played with intensity. They didn't want to go home losing."

The boys' team had a harder time getting shots early and coach JD Sims was not pleased with their early play at the onset.

"We played pretty atrocious in the first half but then really picked it up and were the better team in the second half. That lets us know if we would've had two halves that way we'd probably be the winner."

The Mustangs got up 3-0 in the first half and took the lead into halftime.

Sims said that his team tends to start late at times and he will look to mend that mentality in the week before sectional play.

"One of our biggest things is that we start flat," Sims said. "We don't play well one half or the second half. It's like we have to have a goal scored on us to pick it up. We just have to try to work on energy the whole game."

Senior Zach Wilkerson earned both goals in the second half one off a penalty kick.

The Tiger Cubs then began taking lots of shots on goal. One ball banged on the top of the crossbar and one shot from Wilkerson looked as though might've curved in due to the wind.

However, the Cubs were never able to get the game-tying goal.

"We wanted to use this game to get ready for sectional," Sims said. "It wasn't necessarily about winning. We wanted to beat Edgewood because they beat us last time. But we just wanted to use it to prepare for sectional."

GHS will go to Terre Haute North before its sectional match against Covington at South Vermillion.

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