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Greencastle holds on to knock off Sullivan, take over top spot in WIC
The big one finally arrived Saturday as Sullivan traveled to Greencastle for a WIC girls’ soccer showdown that would determine which way the conference would lean heading into the final weeks of the 2022 season.
A win for the Golden Arrows would seal the title at Robert L. Harbison Stadium while a Tiger Cub win meant the hosts needed only to win its last two conference games to claim the WIC crown.
In a tense match, Greencastle opened the scoring after 24 minutes, only for the visitors to level 70 seconds later.
A second goal for the Tiger Cubs before halftime left the Golden Arrows to chase the game in the second half but the hosts’ maintained a rock solid defense in claiming a 2-1 win.
“Our win over West Vigo probably opened (Sullivan’s) eyes a little bit to us being more of an attacking team,” Greencastle head coach Scott Monnett said. “You could definitely feel from the beginning who they wanted to mark.
“We talked ahead with some of the girls and said they knew what we wanted to do and we had to be more creative. We adjusted our formation to change our point of attack and it from that stand point, it was about good one-on-one play.”
A 9-0 midweek win over the Vikings for Greencastle raised eyebrows and led to a shift in priorities as Sullivan looked to clamp down on the hosts’ wing play.
The combination of Lauren Craighead and Callie Curtis at the fullback slots, along with Rylie Lett in the middle of the defense and Klaire Williams actively sweeping in goal continually blunted the Tiger Cub attack during the first half.
Keeping the midfield compact left Paige Chickadaunce and Payton Templeton isolated up front but the pair were able to keep possession well in the midfield, allowing the rest of the squad to support in the attack.
The gameplan worked well as Templeton had the first great chance of the match, slipping past the Greencastle defensive line, only to shoot right at Bella Monnett in the Tiger Cub goal when through one-on-one.
A snap shot from a tight angle from Templeton was also saved as the visitors had the better attacking attempts through the first 20 minutes of the match.
The home side began to tinker with its lineup and the resulting movement led to the opening goal.
After a bout of pinball in the midfield, Ali Dobbs, who started on the left wing, was deeper in the midfield zone and launched a ball over the Sullivan defense that Evelyn Briones, having drifted in from the right wing, was able to reach first, getting just enough on the ball to guide it underneath Williams for a 1-0 lead.
“We have spent a lot of time, maybe more than anything else as a team, on one-on-one play,” Monnett noted. “Where we found the most success today was winning those one-on-one battles.
“I told our forwards before the match that, in the formation we were in, their job was going to be ultra important for us to create havoc and move side-to-side. We changed that position the most as, if something wasn’t working, we’d move someone else in.”
Undeterred, the Golden Arrows were right back on the attack and leveled the match from a corner launched in by Chickadaunce.
The entry was cleared only as far as Craighead, who was able to lift a dipping volley over the head of Monnett from just outside the 18-yard box to tie the match at 1-1.
Continuous changes from the hosts began to make their mark, however, and a bit of fortune helped Greencastle retake the lead.
Play down the right wing was recycled back towards Aleeyah Johnson, whose shots from outside the box took a deflection off of Riley Wainman, beating Williams as a result and restoring the hosts’ lead five minutes before the break.
The second half saw the Tiger Cubs keep the offensive pressure up as Briones drove down the right wing and forced a smart save out of Williams four minutes after the restart.
Wainman also forced Williams to turn a shot behind for a corner as Sullivan tried to find a balance between keeping the defense tight and finding a way to support the front pair.
Micah Cantonwine had a chance to finish the match off 11 minutes from time with after Briones and Dobbs sliced the Golden Arrow defense open but both a header and follow-up shot were too tame to get past Williams.
Briones also teed up Lilly Welch from the right but the freshman sliced wide as the final minutes ticked down.
Chickadaunce had one good look at goal in the final minutes but sent a shot wide from distance Greencastle’s defense repelled most of what came its way in the second half, leaving the hosts in the driver’s seat for the conference title.
“I’m so proud of our individual effort,” Monnett said about the squad from front to back. “Our back four defensive line, I’m usually most critical of them in a variety of ways but we’ve only given up five goals in conference play, so it’s been great defense.
“Players made sacrifices of position like Zoey Doan moving to the wing, where she hasn’t played all season, and Ali moving to the No. 6 position to help out on (Chickadaunce), which was at her request. It was really good, selfless play from front to back, which was what was needed today.”
Greencastle faced Monrovia on Monday in a non-conference game before finishing out the WIC slate with trips to Edgewood Thursday and North Putnam Saturday.