GREENFIELD — Greenfield-Central opened the boys soccer season with plenty of momentum, winning its own Cougar Cup on Saturday by a combined 14 goals.
They matched that total on Tuesday and broke two school records in the process.
The hosts wasted none of their early-season momentum, jumping on visiting Greenwood just 91 seconds into the game and taking a four-goal lead in the first dozen minutes.
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Zack Bell had hat tricks in each half on his way to a school record eight goals. Caleb Mundell had six assists, another school record. Their huge nights helped Greenfield-Central cruise to a third straight win to open the season, topping the Woodmen at home, 14-1.
“It’s huge,” Bell said of keeping the momentum moving forward. “We’ve got to get rolling, make sure we perfect everything, our system, everything we do, all the runs we make, the passes, everything. Then once we start hitting those really, really big teams, we’re ready.”
Greenfield-Central (3-0) put the pressure on Greenwood (0-3) from the opening whistle, starting the game with possession and controlling the pace with a relentless attack.
They never let up.
Bell opened the scoring almost immediately to put the hosts up one. He assisted on a goal by Mundell six minutes later, doubling the lead.
Jason Scrivner scored a few minutes after Mundell’s goal, off an assist from Jordan Phillips, and Phillips scored himself not even two minutes later to push the lead to four with almost 28 minutes left in the first half.
Bell scored again with 17:33 left in the half off another assist from Phillips, then scored off a pass from Mundell three minutes later, finishing off his hat trick. Drew Oakley scored off an assist from Bell, and Phillips picked up his second goal of the game to push the lead to eight, prompting a slew of substitutions near the end of the first half.
“We have a lot of attacking returners,” Mundell said. “Zack Bell has been doing this four years, now. Tyler Murphy is out right now but we’ve still got his leadership. Jordan Phillips, still got him playing up top. We’re just playing together really well right now, just clicking.”
Bell, the defending Hancock County Player of the Year, took over after the halftime break. He scored five straight times in the second half, pushing his game total to eight and his season total to 13.
“It’s just a blessing to play with this group of guys,” Bell said. “They’re all amazing, all great passers. I barely had to do any work. They got it right to my foot, in the right spot. I’m so lucky to have such great playmakers on the team with me.”
Mundell and Bell wouldn’t have broken their respective school records without their constant back-and-forth passing all night.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Mundell said. “I love creating for my teammates, help them set it up, helping Zack break records, helping everybody else score. I love it. I just love making those plays and creating.”
Trevor Sawyer rounded out the scoring for the Cougars late in the second half. A late Greenwood goal, scored against reserves, is the only score the Cougars have allowed so far this season.
Greenfield-Central is clicking on almost all cylinders right now, but they are approaching the tougher part of the schedule. They know there is plenty of room to grow, even after an impressive display against the Woodmen.
“There’s always things to improve on,” Mundell said. “We’re just going to come back to work tomorrow. We have a really good opponent on Saturday in Westfield, so we’re just going to watch game film on them and keep competing, see how we can get better.”
“The sky’s the limit,” Bell added. “We’ve got a whole lot of potential, our team is very experienced, we’ve been here a long time and kind of know the ropes. We’ve just got to perfect those little things, and once we start rolling, you never know what can happen.”