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Greencastle sees out Brave challenge from Indian Creek to advance in boys' soccer sectional
BRAZIL – The goal of postseason play is to survive and advance.
Greencastle did so with a 3-0 win over Indian Creek in the final opening match of IHSAA Boys’ Soccer Class 2A Sectional No. 29.
Normally, a final score of 3-0 would signify the Tiger Cubs dictated much of the match but it was far from the case as the Braves gave as good as they got in a scoreless opening half and it took until midway through the second half before the purple and gray finally made its breakthrough.
“I was really impressed with Indian Creek in the first half,” Greencastle head coach JD Sims said. “They came out in the first half and put a ton of pressure on us and put my boys back.
“The kids get a little overconfident at times, thinking how the regular season went (a 4-0 Tiger Cub win) is how the sectional will go and obviously Indian Creek made us respect them a lot more.
“I knew they wouldn’t be able to play at that tempo for 80 minutes, though,” Sims added. “We just had to be patient, push up a little bit and find gaps.”
Indian Creek stated it intentions right away, setting up camp in the Greencastle half for much of the first five minutes with an Aiden Long free kick being headed in the box but not being followed up on.
Much of the Tiger Cubs’ best initial play came down the wings with Jalen Hardman often breaking down the right, including one effort in the first 10 minutes that forced Braves goalkeeper Nick Jackson to push out for a corner.
Another good chance came as the first 10 minutes expired when Anthony Peters teed up Milyn Tucker though the midfielder’s shot went over.
Indian Creek thought it had made the breakthrough 15 minutes in when Long skipped through the Greencastle defense and slid in to Kaden Martin, whose shot beat Tiger Cub keeper Harris Weltz but was cleared off the line by a scrambling defense.
Both sides offered more half chances with Hardman having a pair of effort go wide while another Long free kick went into a dangerous area but no one followed up.
The Braves were caught napping in the final seconds as Micah Foss, who was heavily marked throughout, finally found space to run in to but his shot in the final seconds was straight at Jackson as the teams went to halftime tied 0-0.
“The most important thing we needed to do in this game was dictate tempo,” Sims said about the state of the match at halftime. “We were letting (Indian Creek) dictate what was going on and because they were playing with high energy, we were trying to make up for not coming out with the same energy as they were.
“Once we got to halftime, we could take a breather, fix some positioning and rely on the fact that they couldn’t keep up with us for that much longer.”
Play to start the second half was more contested in the midfield area, though the area of play was tilted toward the Indian Creek side of the field, a change that altered the dynamics of the match.
Greencastle’s passing and off-ball movement in the midfield had been muted in the first half but began to stretch the Braves as the action was closer to the edge of the 18-yard box.
While the shots weren’t quite flying in, the pressure began to pile up as the Tiger Cubs pinned the ball into the Indian Creek half and were much quicker to break up the Braves’ counterattacks.
Foss had two tame efforts saved before a cross from Hardman to Foss required the shot be blocked by the defense.
The pressure finally paid off, though not in the cleanest of fashions, just after the midway point of the half.
Foss intercepted a throw-in on the right and the ball, between passes and deflections, moved to the left channel where Jackson Rodgers pushed it back to the right with his first touch and followed with a curling effort that beat Jackson and broke the deadlock.
“Jackson’s finish was great,” Sims said of the sophomore’s goal. “I had the perfect angle for it.
“More than anything, it took the wind out of (Indian Creek’s) sails as they had kept it at 0-0 for so long. Getting to penalties would be an opportunity for them so they kept working hard off the ball to keep us from scoring but getting that goal, 60 minutes in, with kids getting tired really helped us.”
Indian Creek struggled to break out of its half as Hardman had a point blank effort saved by Jackson while Foss had another effort hit straight at the Braves goalkeeper before finally breaking the game open with 11 minutes remaining.
A throw-in from the right reached Foss, who moved further in before slicing past Jackson for a 2-0 lead.
Just 19 seconds later, Foss doubled his tally thanks to being on the receiving end of a yellow card challenge by Jude Heaston.
The resulting free kick, just inside the Indian Creek half, was sent straight toward goal by Tucker and Foss did the simple work of heading it over Jackson, who was booked following the goal.
Greencastle rode out the final 10 minutes comfortably and will face South Vermillion in Wednesday’s second semifinal, the Wildcats advancing after a 3-1 win over Owen Valley. Northview and Edgewood will play in the first semifinal at 5:30 p.m. with the Tiger Cubs to follow.