For the Daily Journal
For one half, the Greenwood boys soccer team went toe to toe with Roncalli in the opening round of the Class 3A Center Grove Sectional on Monday evening.
In the end, it was Roncalli’s depth that won out, as the Rebels took a 5-2 win over the Woodmen.
Roncalli (10-5-2) now advances to Wednesday’s semifinals, where it will play Whiteland (10-6-0) for the second time this year. The Rebels nipped the Warriors, 1-0, in the first meeting.
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It was also the second time in less than a month that Roncalli has toppled Greenwood. In that game, the Rebels held the Woodmen in check, taking a 3-1 win.
And it looked as though the Rebels might run away with this one early, as junior Vince Agramonte took a pass from teammate Mateo Gonzalez and rocketed in from the right side of the net for a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute.
Greenwood looked to have a golden chance when senior Bastian Sanchez had an open net to work with, but he didn’t take a shot.
“We missed out on that sure goal,” Greenwood coach Dan Weber said.
Sanchez made amends, though, scoring on a breakaway to tie the game.
After another Roncalli goal, Sanchez tied it again at 2-2 with only 1:18 to go in the first half. Bryan Gonzalez assisted on the goal.
Roncalli took over in the second half, scoring within the first minute when Agramonte banked in a shot off the post and past Greenwood goalie Cole Mahan.
The Rebels then took advantage of the tiring Woodmen, keeping the ball in the Greenwood side of the pitch for most of the half, and scoring twice more. Garrett Simmerman netted both goals.
“My starters hung with them, but their bench took over and we were kind of wore out,” Weber said. “(Roncalli is) deep and they play well.”
Despite the season ending, Weber was happy with how it went. The Woodmen (4-12-1) won more than one match for the first time since 2013.
“We came out a lot better and next year we’re going to continue to grow,” Weber said.
