Battling through adversity isn’t anything new for the Greenwood Christian boys soccer team, which has spent the year adjusting to a new coach, a new campus (with no practice field yet to speak of) and numerous personnel losses.
So it wasn’t a shock that the young Cougars fought their way through two overtimes and 10 penalty kicks on Wednesday during their Class A sectional semifinal against Oldenburg Academy.
Despite those efforts, GCA came up just short against the Twisters in a shootout at Southwestern.
The two sides battled through a scoreless first half before Oldenburg (7-8) took the lead off a corner kick five minutes into the second period. The Cougars (3-12) answered back roughly five minutes later, tying the game when a cross got away from the Twisters’ goalkeeper and was punched into the net by Fernando Lagunas.
The score remained knotted at 1-1 through the remainder of regulation and both overtime periods.
Each team netted a pair of goals during the first five rounds of penalty kicks, with Lagunas and Charlie Overton converting for GCA. In the second set of five, the Cougars remained alive until Wyatt Schlateger’s shot in the 10th round was turned away.
GCA coach Micah Estes saluted the leadership of his three graduating seniors, but noted that his squad’s best days are still ahead of it.
“This is just the start,” he said. “It takes time to build a culture, and it takes time to build a legacy. … This year was about that.”
