If the sky was going to fall, Greenwood Christian boys soccer coach Jason Noel is glad it happened in August.
Luck might not have been on the Cougars’ side, but time was.
In the third match of the season, leading scorer John Amador sustained a season-ending knee injury, which forced Noel to redefine roles, particularly offensively. GCA lost five of its next seven matches, bottoming out in a 6-0 loss at Whiteland on Sept. 16.
“After the Whiteland game, since then it’s been a whole different team. I think they were angry. I think it was a wake-up call for them that maybe they weren’t as good as they thought they were,” Noel said. “The next practice was a little rough, but after that they became more and more focused.”
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Added senior defender Griffin Peters, “We knew they were not six goals better than us. We talked to each other about what we have to work on and not let it happen again.”
The Cougars closed the regular season with wins in six of seven matches, and last week claimed the title at the Class A Southwestern Sectional. It was GCA’s third sectional championship in a row and fifth in the past seven seasons.
The Cougars (13-6) face No. 10 Bethesda Christian (15-3-1) in the second semifinal at the Knightstown Regional on Saturday. A victory puts GCA in the 7 p.m. championship match for the first time in program history.
On Sept. 3, less than a week after Amador was hurt, the Cougars played at Bethesda Christian, losing 2-1.
“We played them tough for 70 of the 80 minutes and kind of fell apart at the end,” Noel said. “We’re more connected now as a team than we were the last time.”
Amador’s injury forced Noel to move senior defenders Wil Tearman and Noah Harris to forward. Joining Peters on defense have been seniors Parker Whiteside and Jackson Miller and sophomore Fernando Lagunas. The last line of defense, goalkeeper and four-year starter Gabe Vessely, has 195 saves this season.
Amazingly, Amador’s nine goals are still tied for the team lead with senior midfielder Josue Mier, who leads the Cougars with 17 assists. Tearman and freshman Sam Graves have scored eight goals apiece this season.
Peters admits he was initially skeptical about the Cougars’ postseason chances the first few days after Amador was injured.
“I knew it was going to be hard on the team,” said Peters of Amador’s injury in a 4-1 defeat of International. “But I knew how much we wanted to have a good season. It was tough, but we slowly found our way back.”
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Saturday’s soccer regionals
Class A boys
at Knightstown
Indianapolis Lutheran vs. Knightstown, 10 a.m.
Bethesda Christian vs. Greenwood Christian, noon
Championship, 7 p.m.
Class 3A girls
at Bloomington South
Castle vs. Floyd Central, 10 a.m.
Center Grove vs. Bloomington South, noon
Championship, 7 p.m.
Tickets: $8 per session or $10 for full day
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