CARMEL — Zionsville wasted no time showing why they are one of the nation’s premier high school soccer teams.
The Eagles put the pressure on Greenfield-Central right from the opening whistle, launching the first four shots on goal in less than 10 minutes Saturday.
Two went high and one went wide. Another hit the crossbar just above Greenfield-Central goalie Abe Buescher. The Eagles’ fifth shot, though, off a corner kick, found the back of the net just over 10 minutes into Saturday’s regional semifinal. The Eagles converted another corner 10 minutes later and took a 2-0 at the 20-minute mark.
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The Cougars’ comeback attempt fell short, and No. 2 Zionsville advanced to the regional final with a 3-0 win Saturday at Carmel. The Eagles defeated Cathedral 3-0 in the final later that night, advancing to the semistate round.
“I was very proud of the boys,” Greenfield-Central coach Bobby Holden said. “They never quit, and they know even down 2-0, it’s still a game they’re in and they showed that. Just couldn’t capitalize today. Zionsville did a good job capitalizing on the opportunities that they had. Zionsville is a good team. I feel like we had a very good team as well. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way today.”
The pressure from the Eagles didn’t stop in the second half. Zionsville pushed the attack throughout, creating scoring chances. Greenfield-Central defenders blocked or poked away shots, and Buescher saved almost everything that came through his defense in the second half, finishing the game with 12 saves.
The Cougars kept their composure and kept fighting, turning up the offensive attack in the final 20 minutes.
Greenfield-Central looked to halve the lead with 16 minutes remaining, as Tyler Murphy took a free kick from 10 yards outside the box and blasted it on goal, only for Zionsville’s keeper to get his fingertips on it and knock the shot over the crossbar.
A Cougars’ corner kick with seven minutes left led to another good scoring look that sailed high. A yellow card to Zionsville with 6:03 left gave the Cougars a free kick from almost the same spot as Murphy’s earlier kick, but the ensuing shot missed wide.
Zionsville put the game away with 5:01 left, scoring off a low cross right in front of Buescher that was slammed into the top of the net.
The Eagles played every bit like one of the top teams in Indiana, controlling the pace of play and maintaining possession in the attacking end for much of the first half. The Eagles limited the Cougars to a handful of shots on goal in the game.
Saturday’s semifinal was the third straight regional the Cougars played in, advancing to last year’s regional championship and losing in the semifinal in 2016. The loss ends another successful season for Greenfield-Central, who finish the year 14-4 and as the undefeated Hoosier Heritage Conference champions.
“We’re a family. We’re there for one another,” Holden said. “We came in as a family, we’ll leave as a family. Not the result we wanted, but there’s a lot of love on this team. We’ll bounce back and come back even stronger next season.”