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Chemistry brings Cubs together; Greencastle boys’ soccer now 9-1-1, one win from WIC title
Sometimes having doubters can improve athletic performance, and Greencastle’s boys soccer team is a great example of that axiom.
The Tiger Cubs won the South Vermillion sectional title last year by defeating Covington 1-0 and West Vigo 4-1, before being eliminated from the state tourney 7-0 by Covenant Christian.
The squad lost eight seniors from that team and has just two on its roster this year, but the Tiger Cubs have overlooked those statistics and are off to a 9-1-1 start.
They won the Western Indiana Conference’s West Division with a perfect 4-0 record on Saturday with a 5-1 win over Sullivan, allowing their first goal of the conference season after three straight shutouts.
Junior Simon Foss recognizes the reason behind his team’s success, and doesn’t discount lower expectations by others.
“We played really well,” he said after Saturday’s match. “We have been working on our possession game throughout season and it’s coming along really well.
“A lot of people had a lot of doubts about our team, because we are very young with not many seniors, but we have pulled it together,” Foss added. “I’m excited for sectionals and conference championship still to come.”
The Tiger Cubs took a 2-1 halftime lead on Saturday, and scored all three of the match’s second-half goals.
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Five different players found the net for the Tiger Cubs, with one goal each by juniors Evan Crowe and Seth Nichols, sophomore Dylan Kendall and freshmen Ben Wilkerson and Hector Lezama.
Nichols had two assists, while junior Kevin Polster and sophomore Ben Parsons each had one. Junior goalie Brody Watson made four saves.
Coach J.D. Sims loves the way his young team has bought into the team’s strategies.
“We’re playing great,” he said. “We’ve had some ups and downs, but overall we’ve been moving the ball better. It’s been a vast improvement in that area from last year.”
Sims agrees there may have been skeptics of his squad.
“We just dominated possessions [Saturday], and it really came together,” he said. “Last year we had eight seniors, and we lost a lot of good kids.
“Other people kind of had that feeling that we were going to be down,” Sims added. “We have a younger squad, and all the guys are really open to our passing philosophy.”
Teamwork is the key, Sims says.
“As a unit we are stronger than individually,” he said. “That’s how you win soccer games.”
Crowe recognizes the difference in passing as being the key between Saturday’s stellar performance and a subpar outing in a win on Thursday.
“We played and passed really well,” he said. “Our last game we didn’t pass very well, and we definitely had some hiccups there.
“We definitely showed up and played our game [Saturday].”
Crowe adds one other factor has led to his team’s success.
“A big part of it is chemistry,” he said. “We all get along, and we definitely connect well together.”
The Tiger Cubs opened the season with two wins, then tied Crawfordsville 1-1 before suffering their only loss of the season in a 4-1 match with Danville.
Since then, Greencastle has won seven straight outings.
Nichols is happy with his team’s successes, but knows the season is not over yet and the team cannot let up in facing one of its season’s biggest weeks.
“I’m very proud of our team,” he said. “We have a lot more matches left to go, and have to keep our heads up.
“We honestly didn’t think it would go this well, but we have worked well as a team.”
The Tiger Cubs will play at Edgewood, the WIC East Division champions, in the first-place conference crossover playoff game on Saturday.
First, Greencastle will play a non-conference match at Edgewood on Tuesday and host Owen Valley on Thursday.
Sims is looking forward to this week’s challenges.
“On Tuesday we can kind of feel it out before the championship game,” he said. “We lost to them twice last year, and they have a pretty strong squad.
“It’s going to be fun.”