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Lady Tiger Cubs advance to second round with 1-0 win
TERRE HAUTE -- It was going to be interesting how the Tiger Cubs would respond in the first game of the Terre Haute South Soccer Sectional Tuesday with leading scorer Hannah Spencer stalking the sideline in a walking cast. How did they respond? With the same grit and determination they displayed throughout the season and came away with a 1-0 win over Northview.
With Spencer out of the starting line up, Greencastle struggled early with getting into a groove. The Knights knew the tendencies of the Tiger Cubs and prepared a game plan to neutralize their advantage. Northview stacked the middle, a move that caused the Tiger Cubs to have problems passing the ball throughout the night.
After the contest, head coach Maurice McKee was pleased with his team's performance and acknowledged the squad's passing difficulties.
"They played very well, really," McKee said. "We didn't play a lot of short pass game, but when we did play short pass we went right through them. We tried to push the ball in the middle, which their coach told me that they knew how we played, so he reset his line up and loaded up the middle. I knew we were going to dealing with that.
"We went with long ball cross and tried to get as much as we could that way. We never did go down to the short pass that we know how to do. Our passes were off tonight, so we kind of stayed away from that," he added.
The first half was a stalemate. Neither squad was able to find the back of the net and when Greencastle did get shots off, Northview keeper Rachel Alstott was there to gather the ball. The teams entered the half scoreless.
Greencastle's Becky Grivas wrecked havoc on Northview all night long. She covered the field on the defensive end and when she decided to press the ball forward, she easily found her was through Northview's defenders.
"She's all over the place; she sweeps really well," McKee commented. "As a senior, it's some big shoes to fill. It's going to be tough to replace her, actually all of our seniors; it's going to be tough to fill any of the seniors positions next year. With our low numbers coming up, it's going to be real interesting next year."
In the second half, Greencastle got just want they needed -- a score. With 27:37 on the clock, Tiger Cub Melissa Ball sliced through a multitude of Knights and sent a shot blazing past Alstott giving Greencastle all they would need.
Northview had an opportunity with 9:42 on the clock after Grivas was given a yellow card. Northview's Cayla Yockey took the free kick, but it sailed wide left, ending any chance the Knights had of tying the game.
Spencer saw limited action in the contest and McKee spoke afterward about the extent of her injury and what it means for GHS.
"She probably shouldn't have played tonight," McKee expressed. "I finally gave in and told her 'you're only going to be in there for a few minutes. If you do something you do, if you don't you don't and then you come back out.'" McKee explained that Spencer suffered a torn calf muscle and would probably not see action on Thursday, depending on the way the game goes.
He also pointed out that GHS keeper Jennifer Grumme is playing through injury as well and chalked it up to what he described as "being a soccer girl."
"You know, that's the mentality of the soccer girl. The guys, I'm sure are the same way I never coached the guys. The girls could be dragging both feet and they'll tell me to put them in -- I've had it happen," McKee said. "The girls don' want to be over on the sidelines, they want to be out there with the team. I was able to play some of the girls off the bench tonight and with Hannah being injured we got a couple of them in and they did really well for us. I was really pleased with how they stepped up."
Greencastle will face South Vermillion at 7 p.m. Thursday in the sectional.
At Terre Haute South
Girls' Soccer Sectional # 24
Northview 0 0 -- 0
Greencastle 0 1 -- 1
Second Half
GHS -- Ball 27:37
Next game -- Greencastle will face South Vermillion at 7 p.m. Thursday in the sectinal.