A soccer sectional title is the goal of all three county teams as action at Crawfordsville High School gets under way next Monday.
The 2A Section 25 tournament will feature seven teams, all familiar to local fans. Six are from the Sagamore Conference, but the outsider has to be considered a favorite.
Crawfordsville, winners of the Sagamore Conference for only the second time in school history, drew the bye into the semifinals, so will wait for three matches to take place before their first match next Wednesday on their home pitch.
They have a 12-3-1 record, but the non-Sagamore team, Greencastle, has a similar (11-2-2) mark and is the only sectional team that didn’t lose to the Athenians (a 1-1 tie early in the season).
Southmont opens the action with a match against Frankfort next Monday afternoon, and North Montgomery gets going on Tuesday when they play Danville in the first of two matches. The Tiger Cubs and Tri-West tangle in the second Tuesday action.
The Athenians await the winner of Frankfort and the Mounties, and the other two winners also play on Wednesday. The championship match is scheduled for Saturday, October 9.
The Mounties bring a 2-8-1 record out of the regular season, with a win over North Montgomery and a tie with Covington.
Head Coach Stephanie Kennedy points to leadership as the team heads into the postseason.
“Our seniors are a big part of this team,” she said. “They are the ones we look at to be the leaders, to pick up the energy, to get us on the right track on and off the field. They have been a big part in teaching our young guys right now what they are responsible for next season. I appreciate their work ethic, determination and commitment throughout the years here and especially the last two seasons with me.”
The second-year coach also noted improvement through that regular season.
“One of the biggest highlights for us coaches is the team’s perseverance throughout the season,” she said.“Our record doesn’t show the athletes and capabilities of this team. They are fighting to the end every game no matter if we are down one or four. They continue to try and do the things we ask and focus on getting better every practice and game.”
South lost to the Hot Dogs in conference action, and the coach says there is a path to a win and moving on in the tournament.,
“Based on our last game against Frankfort - Defense is a big key for us from our forwards on back,” she continued. “We want to work on breaking their offensive line down to keep them from scoring. We tend to focus more on defense but one of our struggles right now is scoring. We can have great defense but you can’t win a game without scoring and that has been a tough thing for us lately. We continue to work on making the right pass and finding connections which we have improved on but we have to find the back of the net.”
