Greencastle boys' soccer dominates West Vigo
The Greencastle boys' soccer team has turned up its practices to try and motivate the players for the late-season push toward the sectional match-ups.
The plan was noticeable on the field Tuesday, when West Vigo visited the Tiger Cub (5-3) field and made the trip back to Terre Haute after losing 4-1.
Greencastle scored early and often and kept the ball in scoring position for the majority of the game.
"It's nice to see the ball on the opponent's side of the field," GHS coach Cody Watson said. "That means the guys are working their butts off. They're playing with intensity and they are really having fun out there. That's where the magic happens. It's from the attacking surge and watching it all come together."
The first score came a few minutes into the match when Zach Wilkerson made a move to blow by the defense after a pass from Justin Hartman and put the ball into the net.
"I loved the way we all came together," Wilkerson said. "I thought we played really well as a team. I liked how we were able to keep it on their half, posses and get a lot of shots on goal too. It was a very productive team effort."
Seth Nichols gained the second score of the first half when he received a pass from Evan Crowe and then converted on a shot making the score 2-0.
"The guys really worked hard today," Watson said. "We've really be priding ourselves on getting that first goal. They did well tonight."
Greencastle fought the entire half and came out in the second just as fired up. While the ball stayed in scoring position for most of the half, the Tiger Cubs were unable to punch the ball in.
That came to an end when the Vikings were called for an elbow to the face and Wilkerson floated a well placed penalty kick just under the bar, making it impossible for the West Vigo goalie to defend. This put the home team up 3-0 with 9:40 left to play.
Five minutes later West Vigo finally was able to get a score making it a 3-1 game.
"There's some things we have to work on as we prepared for sectionals in three weeks," Watson said. "Overall I was very pleased with the effort tonight. I wish we could've kept a clean sheet but going forward I think we'll be able to play very well in the back."
The Purple Pride wasn't done scoring. With the game nearing its conclusion and Watson clamoring for a fourth goal, a well placed kick from the corner by Jacob Kessler was headed in to the goal by Alex Briones for the games final score.
"I don't normally get to play on the field," Briones said. "I'm a goalie. So when we get these opportunities where we are a few (goals) up, Coach lets me play on the field which is a lovely experience. I only thought I was going to play for ten minutes so I didn't even think about scoring, especially a header. That never happens for me. Like Zach said, our team works really well together."
The team next plays at Lebenon and has only five games until sectional play begins early October. The Tiger Cubs are making sure they are tuned up and ready to go during practices.
"In practices it just intensity, intensity and intensity," Briones said. "We work on intensity one week and technical work another or strategy.
At Greencastle
Greencastle 2-2
West Vigo 0-1
Greencastle Scoring
First Half
Wilkerson from Hartman 1-0 G
Nichols from Crowe 2-0 G
Second Half
Wilkerson (PK) 3-0 G
Briones from Kessler 4-1 W
Saves
GC: Briones 2
Watson 2
GC shots on Goal: 13