GREENFIELD — With just under five minutes remaining in a physical home opener, Greenfield-Central’s Zack Bell found a little bit of space.
That’s all he needed.
With the score tied at one and minutes left on the clock, Bell took possession of the ball and raced past a Noblesville defender. As he approached the box, he made a decision.
He launched a shot toward the bottom corner of the net from about 25 yards out. It soared past the outstretched arms of Noblesville’s Josh Lewis, giving the Cougars a 2-1 home victory Tuesday night.
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“It was a grind game,” Bell said. “Go until we stop. That’s what all our running in the offseason was for. We just kept going. I figured I got a little bit of space. I was open, they were leaving me space. We talk about in practice if they give you 20, 25 yards out, any of our attackers can hit that. I was just the lucky one to be in that position.”
Bell, a junior leader for the Cougars, sent the large crowd home happy after a tough, back and forth game against the Millers.
“It’s something you hope for from your captain, your leader on the field, and he came up big,” Greenfield-Central coach Bobby Holden said. “But really, all of our guys worked so hard to get in there for those opportunities. Bell did a good job there in the end taking it upon himself to hit that ball.”
The Cougars (2-0) had taken an early lead on a Trevor Sawyer goal in the 18th minute. Sawyer poked the ball away from a Noblesville defender and snuck in behind, finding himself one-on-one with Noblesville’s Adam Carter, who had started the game in goal.
Sawyer put the home team on the board first, but the lead wouldn’t last.
Noblesville (0-1) pushed hard for an equalizer, throwing a half dozen shots at Greenfield-Central’s sophomore goalie Abe Buescher in the first half alone. Buescher stopped everything, as he did in a shutout opener, helping the hosts to a 1-0 lead at the half.
The visitors looked to equalize just minutes into the second half with a shot in space. Buescher got his fingertips on the ball, just enough to push it just wide of the goal post and out for a corner.
Buescher then knocked aside a rocket shot from the Millers’ Drew Barnes just over 10 minutes into the second half, preserving the lead.
“Abe did fantastic,” Holden said. “He’s one of those goalkeepers that comes around every once in a while. He just came up with some huge saves.”
That’s when the physicality ramped up. The Cougars picked up two yellow cards in the second half and eventually watched their lead disappear.
After earning a free kick just outside the box with 24 minutes remaining, Noblesville’s Josh Lovett faked the kick and midfielder Gabe Imes sent a brilliant free kick Buescher’s way.
Buescher got his hands on it but the shot found its way through, tying the game at 1-1.
“That free kick, I tell you what, that will be a highlight for Noblesville for sure,” Holden said. “It was phenomenal. He (Buescher) gets both his hands to it and it still has the power to go in. That kid has a tremendous free kick.”
The Millers took away momentum with the tying score and put the pressure on. Noblesville’s Tyler Cassidy hit the post with 11 minutes left in regulation. Buescher saved a shot following a corner kick just seconds later.
But the Cougars took momentum back, upping their attack in the final 10 minutes and pushing the ball into the box repeatedly.
“I felt like we did give away some momentum when they scored, but we worked as a team, as our family, and we got our momentum back going,” Bell said. “Once we started possessing the ball again in the second half, I think we knew we were going to put one away eventually. We were putting so much pressure on them.”
From the net, Buescher watched his team ramp up the offensive pressure. His saves helped keep the Cougars out front for much of the game, then kept them even.
He said he felt confident in his teammates even after giving up the first goal of the season against the Cougars. He knew his defense had his back like they did in Saturday’s season-opening shutout, and he knew his offense would come through.
“I know my team has me so I wasn’t worried,” Buescher said. “Our defense played really well tonight. John Halvorsen showed up big, Brantley (Kuntz) played really big. The guys stepped up.”