Tiger Cubs beat resilient Wildcats to reach Northview Sectional final

At times, it was a lonely night for Greencastle forward Micah Foss (9) as South Vermillion provided a stubborn resistance during the semifinal of the Northview Boys' Soccer Sectional Wednesday night. Foss scored four minutes into the contest and added a second inside the final 30 seconds as the Tiger Cubs advanced to Saturday's final against the host Knights with a 2-0 win over the Wildcats.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

BRAZIL – For all the technical proficiency and excitement of Tuesday’s opening round brought to IHSAA Boys’ Soccer Class 2A Sectional No. 29, Wednesday’s semifinal between Greencastle and South Vermillion was more about who had the will and physical capabilities to advance to Saturday’s final.

Both teams, having played just 24 hours prior, showed signs of the physical toll two matches in two days wrought as the Tiger Cubs struggled to break down a resolute Wildcat defense.

In contrast, South Vermillion offered little outside of set pieces after the first phase of the match and Greencastle, having gotten a goal four minutes in from Micah Foss, were able to withstand what the Wildcats offered offensively late on, taking a 2-0 decision and a spot in the sectional final home.

“We’re excited to get to the final,” Greencastle head coach JD Sims said. “It wasn’t our prettiest game but we got the job done and sometimes you just have to accept it.

“We played two hard back-to-back games, especially the way Indian Creek played us on Tuesday, so that was rough, but we’re happy to get the win, get a couple of days of rest and go up against Northview Saturday.”

The first move of the match brought about the first goal as Clay Glessner started the action from the defense down the right side to Milyn Tucker, whose ball to Foss allowed the forward to slash across the goal of Dominick Hanson and inside the far post for a 1-0 lead.

“We wanted to play slower, hold onto possession, run (South Vermillion) down physically and open up gaps at the end of the game, kind of like the Indian Creek game,” Sims said after getting the first goal. “We started doing it but mistakes were made, so that one goal was huge to have on the board.

“We wanted to get a second goal to really start possessing but had to wait on it.”

South Vermillion had a few moments of forward action but had little goal threat until Patrik Gjervan intercepted a loose pass and fired a low shot that Harris Weltz spilled, though no one was close enough to follow up for the Wildcats.

Throw-ins and free kicks provided the most threat to the Tiger Cubs and while most were off target, the efforts were close enough to cause some problems for the home team on the scoreboard.

Greencastle found moving through the packed South Vermillion defense tough to do as the Wildcats defended in large, compact numbers, cutting out passing lanes and disrupting any rhythm the Tiger Cubs tried to build.

“At any given time, (South Vermillion) had seven people behind the ball in the middle,” Sims noted. “We kept trying to force things.

“They gave us width but when we tried to pass the ball in, we either overhit the ball or clobbered one of those seven people, so their block was good. It was rough on them going forward but it certainly made it harder on us, though when we were up 1-0, I wasn’t going to complain about their block by any means.”

The moment South Vermillion looked for to tie the match came six minutes after the halftime restart on an aimless ball that happened to split the Greencastle defense.

Elijah Hannum was first to the ball and bore down on Weltz but the latter was able to get down low to his right and palm Hannum’s shot around for a corner.

Play remained bogged down in the midfield for much of the half as the Wildcats looked to hit on the break, often lacking the numbers needed in order to keep the deficit at just one goal.

The Tiger Cubs finally started to gain some control midway though the second half but struggled to find good looks on goal, Foss and Dylan Olson both having shots from distance go wide.

Anthony Peters nearly made it 2-0 when a goal clearance was intercepted and the freshman lobbed Hanson, only for Mialin White to clear off the line.

Hanson beat Foss to several balls in and around the box as the Wildcats cautiously sent more men forward to find a tying goal.

Greencastle’s defense was stout, giving South Vermillion few looks to work off of and Foss would finally seal the game after stealing backpass and poking past Hanson in the final minute.

Greencastle will face hosts Northview in the sectional final Saturday at 2 p.m.