SHELBYVILLE
Danny Wilson’s name somehow got left out of the game program at the Class A boys soccer sectional at Southwestern.
A senior defender for seventh-ranked Greenwood Christian Academy, Wilson made sure people knew who he was by the end of Monday’s first-round match.
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Wilson’s goal 13 minutes, 5 seconds into the second half helped propel the Cougars to a 2-0 shutout win over No. 4 Oldenburg Academy. His goal, paired with a header by forward George Apgar in the first half, lifted GCA (13-3-1) into Wednesday’s semifinals.
The Cougars will face Indianapolis Lutheran at 5 p.m., the second time in six days Greenwood Christian plays the Knights. The squads played to a 1-1 deadlock to close the regular season last Thursday.
Wilson, who entered Monday’s match with four goals on the season, described No. 5:
“It was a corner kick and I think Dane (Crick) did a good job getting the keeper out,” Wilson said. “It just came to me, I was wide open and it was there.
“I think we did really good just playing great defense, and our keeper, Gabe (Vessely) made some great saves that helped us out a lot.”
With the Cougars ahead, 2-0, and the Twisters desperately trying to get on the board late, Vessely helped preserve the shutout with 10:28 remaining when he dove right to get his hand on a would-be goal.
Oldenburg Academy also just missed scoring at 22:35 of the opening half when Adam Huber’s left-footed penalty kick caromed off the goal’s crossbar.
The teams were scoreless until Apgar’s header at 9:12 sailed over the reach of Twisters’ sophomore goalie Chris Hautman and into the back left corner of the goal. Junior midfielder Josue Mier was credited with the assist, his 15th of the season.
Monday’s match marked the second straight year GCA knocked Oldenburg Academy from the postseason. The Cougars downed the Twisters, 3-1, in a sectional semifinal last year.
“I think the way all the top teams have been playing, the rankings really don’t mean much. Any one of those top teams, it’s a 50-50 chance,” GCA coach George Huizinga said. “In all honesty, that was the best soccer we’ve played all year.
“I would have liked to see our forwards do a little bit more up front, but the midfield, by far that was their best overall match. And the defense, sometimes we have some problems with missing the ball, but it didn’t happen very often. We minimized our mistakes.”
