Greenwood Christian’s Bo Campbell takes a shot during Saturday’s semistate match against Forest Park.
Corey Stolzenbach | For the Daily Journal
By Corey Stolzenbach
For the Daily Journal
EVANSVILLE
Greenwood Christian made another deep playoff run on the pitch, but once again, the Class A No. 6 Cougars fell short of the ultimate glory.
Ninety-four minutes passed between Greenwood Christian and Forest Park with neither putting a goal on the board, which brought on a penalty kick shootout.
The Cougars tied the shootout at 1-1 and at 2-2, but fell behind after a missed PK that bounced off the left goalpost. Rangers senior Ethan Greulich eventually put one past GCA senior keeper Colton Flint to win it.
“It’s toughest for the seniors,” GCA coach Steve Campbell said. “But we’ve got a great younger group that’s currently playing, and we have some guys coming in that are eighth-graders that are going to help us get back to where we need to be.”
Seven seniors — Drew Adams, Caleb Schmidt, Xander Honeycutt, Carmine Mina, Elijah Herndon, Mason Wright and Flint — helped take the program to new heights a year ago. Though it fell, 9-0, to Park Tudor in the Class A state championship, Greenwood Christian went from being under .500 in the regular season to winning regional and semistate for the first time in 2022. The Cougars nearly got back to the title game again, this time under first-year coach Campbell.
“We’ve had great work ethic, positive attitudes and a good team effort from our senior leadership,” he said.
The Cougars (15-5) had some corner kick chances during the first half, but couldn’t put anything in the back of the net — though they came awfully close when sophomore Bo Campbell, the coach’s son, took a shot off a free kick that went just to the left of the net.
Saturday’s game at Evansville North’s Bundrant Stadium also featured windy conditions, which both the Cougars and Rangers had to navigate through.
“I’d take the wind away; the wind totally killed us,” Steve Campbell said on anything he’d like to have back. “It took a technical team that we have with these boys, and it just made bouncy balls and very rough play from the very start to the finish.”
The 2023 Cougars went on a nine-game win streak from Aug. 26 through Sept. 21 and entered Saturday’s game having won five in a row dating back to the regular-season finale, with three of those victories coming via shutout.
“Most of the games have come down to the wire,” coach Campbell said. “We dig down deep, just like we did today. Unfortunately, we came a little bit short today, but until today we’ve come through and they’ve given me 100% — and that’s all I could ask for.”
Greenwood Christian has 10 players who can come back in 2024, plus more talent coming in, so the hope is that it can make another run at that elusive first state title.
“I think they understand that they can get there this year,” Steve Campbell said. “Last year, they kind of took it as the games went on and it was a surprise. This year, we proved that we could win the state, and we expect that year in and year out for the next few years.”
