GCA boys soccer loses sectional opener

<p>Staff Reports</p><p>The Greenwood Christian boys soccer team knew it faced an uphill climb on Wednesday when it traveled to play its Class A sectional opener against a Southwestern team that had beaten the Cougars, 10-2, four weeks ago.</p><p>Though the Cougars cut the host Spartans’ scoring in half in the second meeting, it was unable to crank up its own in a 5-1 defeat.</p><p>Anick Hartsell scored three goals for Class A No. 12 Southwestern (13-1), while his brother Aiden accounted for the other two. The Spartans built a 3-0 lead in the first 30 minutes of the match.</p><p>Senior John Amador, GCA’s single-season and career scoring leader, got the 18th-ranked Cougars on the board before halftime, but 3-1 was as close as they were able to get. Each of the Hartsells scored once in the second half to help Southwestern put the match away.</p><p>Greenwood Christian, which finishes the season with a 7-10-1 record, will return all but two players next season, with Amador and Matthew Heldman the only seniors on the roster.</p>