Greencastle girls' soccer falls to Terre Haute South, 5-0

Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Greencastle sophomore Sydney Secrest controls the ball during Tuesday's match with Terre Haute South.

By CAINE GARDNER

Sports Editor

While it goes in the record book as a 5-0-shutout loss, Greencastle head coach Jamie Grivas saw positives in Tuesday's match with Terre Haute South.

Grivas noted GHS lost to the Braves by double digits last year. Also Terre Haute South is coming off a big win against defending state champs Carmel.

"Losing 5-0, while tough, is really a big improvement," she said. "We played hard. Some of the girls at this point this late at night, the ball just gets slick and it happens on both ends, they were messing up just as much."

Terre Haute South scored less than four minutes into the contest when Courtney Hubbard drilled a hard shot pass GHS keeper Amelia Smith. The Braves added another goal at the 13:13 mark to take a 2-0 lead, which they held until halftime.

In the first half, Terre Haute South was able to gain an advantage by using good spacing and found the Tiger Cubs out of position. The good news for the Tiger Cubs was Smith didn't give in after allowing two goals.

GHS fields a very young squad, and while they made some mistakes, they made the Braves earn every goal they scored.

"Those girls (Terre Haute South) have probably been playing together, almost all of them, since they were probably eight," Grivas said. "We've got some girls that only have three years of experience. We've got some girls starting varsity that this is their second year, which is pretty impressive.

"There's a difference in the skill level, but we can hold our own."

The Braves found the back of the next three times in the second half, but Smith once again made some tough saves to keep Greencastle within striking distance. Greencastle also benefited from some a senior core that kept them focused.

"Amelia Smith is a phenomenal goalie," Grivas said. "Some of the saves she had were unbelievable and she played so well. The reality is she saved far more than she let in.

"We had some good senior leadership on the field all across with Mackenzie Kean, Rebecca Sampson and both of the Mason girls (Janelle and Annalysse) really helped. Their experience as seniors really showed tonight because they kept everyone level headed."

In junior varsity action, Greencastle fell to the Braves 5-3. Cheyenne Hurst and Breanna Ferrand led an offensive attack that netted two goals in the second half. The third Tiger Cub goal was credited as an own goal.

Grivas said much like her varsity, the junior varsity squad is inexperienced, but to be able to battle and end the game 5-3 was impressive.

Greencastle will host North Putnam tonight for a 5 p.m. start. Grivas said her team would be ready to play.

"We play North Putnam and I think we're going to come out hard and fast. We want North Putnam. We lost to them last year and we want it this year," she said.

At Greencastle

Varsity

Terre Haute South 2 3 -- 5

Greencastle 0 0 -- 0

Junior Varsity

Terre Haute South 5

Greencastle 3