Daniel Kuzniar (30) holds up the trophy as Greenwood Christian celebrates its first-ever regional championship on Saturday.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
So far this postseason, Greenwood Christian has eliminated two teams that were ranked in the top 20 of the final Class A poll.
Impressive doings for a team that had been on the outside looking in.
The unranked Cougars reached up and grabbed history on Saturday, capturing their first regional championship with a 1-0 win over No. 16 Southwestern at Knightstown.
One of only four Class A squads still playing, GCA (10-7-3) prepares to face No. 8 Forest Park (14-6-1) in the Seymour Semistate this Saturday at 5 p.m.
Senior midfielder Patrick Taber’s goal in the 22nd minute of the first half proved to be all the Cougars needed against the Spartans — along with an outstanding defensive effort.
“(Taber) basically won the ball in midfield, took it 15 or 20 yards and made it from about 25 yards away,” second-year Greenwood Christian coach Micah Adkins-Estes said. “Southwestern played pretty well, but Xander Honeycutt marked their top scorer (Garreth Stringer) and shut him down for the most part.
“Xander takes a lot of pride in his defense and has been crucial to our back line.”
The other teams remaining in Class A, top-ranked Westview (19-1-1) and No. 2 Park Tudor (18-2-1), battle for a state finals berth at the Kokomo Semistate. That match will widely be viewed as the de facto title contest, though Adkins-Estes realizes anything is possible at this point.
“It’s just surreal, honestly, but it shows all the hard work the players and coaches have put in,” he said. “I had a meeting with my seniors (Saturday) night, and that I know they’re tired. But now we have these tangible goals to show that our countless hours of work are really paying off.
“Why can’t we go out and make it to a state championship, and even win?”
