Staff Reports
There was more at stake than merely a win for the Greenfield-Central boys soccer team on Wednesday night.
With their Hoosier Heritage Conference championship hopes on the line, the Cougars needed a victory against rival Yorktown to keep pace in the standings race.
The Cougars succeeded in their mission and earned a bonus prize in the process.
By defeating Yorktown (10-2, 5-2 HHC) in a penalty-kick shootout, 4-3, Greenfield-Central (4-6-1, 4-2 HHC) moved into third place in the standings and also reclaimed the HHC’s coveted traveling Bell trophy.
Currently, Shelbyville (9-5, 5-1 HHC) remains atop the league standings ahead of both Yorktown and Delta (8-4, 5-2 HHC). Greenfield-Central has one more HHC game remaining on the regular-season schedule against New Castle (2-10, 1-5 HHC) on Oct. 1.
During their crucial game against Yorktown, the Cougars battled the host Tigers to a scoreless tie after 80 minutes of regulation. The score remained deadlocked after 14-overtime minutes.
The two teams headed to a PK shootout where initially Greenfield-Central pulled ahead 3-1 behind two clutch saves by Abe Buescher. Yorktown closed in 3-3 before Carson Jones converted the winning shot with ice in his veins.
The Cougars are on the road to conclude the season with Fishers up next on Tuesday.
Boys Tennis
Marauders set school record for wins
The Mt. Vernon boys tennis team defeated rival New Palestine 4-1 at the Marauder Dome on Wednesday to set a new single-season wins record.
At 18-0, the Marauders set a new standard for the boys program behind a pair of singles victories and a sweep in both doubles matches.
Chris Hays won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Joe Bowsher improved to 19-2 on the year with at 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3 singles for Mt. Vernon’s second point.
The No. 2 doubles tandem of Andrew Jones and Logan LeRoy won 6-3, 6-2 to secure the Marauders’ winning point while upping their season record to 20-1.
Owen Koon and Tyler Sumner battled to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 1 doubles for the team’s fourth point.
New Palestine’s Erza Schwier, the defending No. 1 singles county champion, won 6-1, 7-5 to claim the Dragons lone point.
“There were no celebrations. We knew this match set us up for a date on Monday vs. 6-0 Delta for the conference title at Mt. Vernon on senior night,” Marauders head coach Gabe Muterspaugh said. “Our guys get it. They are ready and we will play with heart, passion and leave it all out there. We wanted this position to play for the title and go undefeated in regular season and be ready for our tournament run.”
Cougars fall to Tigers 3-2
The Greenfield-Central boys tennis team pushed the Yorktown Tigers to a pair of third-set matches at No. 1 singles and doubles but fell just short, 3-2, on Wednesday night.
Robbie Dye secured one point for the Cougars at No. 2 singles, winning 6-0, 6-1, while Matt Hyre won at No. 3 singles 6-0, 6-3.
The Cougars are now 10-4 on the season.
Volleyball
Marauders sweep Tigers
The Class 4A ninth-ranked Mt. Vernon Marauders came out strong on Wednesday night, sweeping past 2A No. 6 Triton Central 3-0 at home.
The Marauders won 25-21, 25-16, 25-17.
Six Marauders finished in double digits for digs with Rylee Ugen leading the way with 22. Delaney Bowser had 18, Cecilia Bulmahn had 17, Abby Herman and Claire Ertel each had 12 apiece. Libby Gee-Weiler posted 10.
Bulmahn had 15 kills in the match, followed by Ertel’s 14 and Macy Lyon’s six kills on 11 swings without an error. Ugen recorded 35 assists.
Cougars fall 3-2 to Tigers
The Greenfield-Central volleyball team rallied to force a decisive fifth set against top-ranked Yorktown, but the Tigers slipped away 3-2 on Wednesday night.
Greenfield-Central won the first set 25-23 before Yorktown tied up the match with a 25-21 second-set victory. The Tigers pulled ahead with a 25-19 third-set win before the Cougars charged back 28-26 in the fourth.
In the fifth, the Tigers narrowly fended off the Cougars 15-12.
Ava Antic led the Cougars with a double-double (20 kills and 26 digs). The senior reached a career milestone with 1,000 kills during the contest.
Makayla Price had 16 kills. Both G-C setters also recorded a double-double with Ali Knecht posting 19 assists and 20 digs, while Morgan Hornaday had 28 assists and 12 digs. Molly Schwarzkopf had nine blocks. Senior libero Rachel Campbell tallied 34 digs.
Girls Soccer
Dragons tame Arabians
The New Palestine girls soccer team beat HHC rival Pendleton Heights 4-0 Wednesday at home.
Anna Luker tallied a hat trick, starting the scoring four minutes in. Six minutes later, Maddy Potter fed McKenzie Davis for a goal that extended the lead to 2-0. Luker scored second-half goals off assists from Allie Blum and Davis to double the lead.
Whitney Miller earned the shutout in goal, with the defensive line of Lucy Miller, Addi Jones, Mia Knoop and Potter sharing in the clean sheet.
Marauders shut out Bears
The Mt. Vernon girls soccer team defeated visiting Lawrence Central 5-0 on Wednesday night.
The Marauders fired three goals in the first half and two in the second while holding the Bears without a single shot.
Anna Isger, Mattie Isger, Maddie Swingle, Shay Stindle and Shay Shipley each recorded goals. Assists were credited to Shipley, Ellie Gawrys and Katie Gawrys, who had three.
