GREENCASTLE — Southmont’s girls soccer team saw its season come to an end with a 2-1 loss to Greencastle in the 1A Section 40 opening match.
A physical, defensive match came down to a Tiger Cubs goal midway through the second half that set the final score, as the Mounties finish their season at 6-10 while Greencastle improves to 14-3 and advances in the tournament.
“It was a good match. We passed well, we defended well,” a disappointed South coach Angie Williams said. “We controlled the ball, we were aggressive from start to finish,” she continued. “I’m just super-proud of this team, not just tonight, but all season. They have improved so much. A lot of players played their best soccer tonight.”
There were few good scoring opportunities for either team, as pass after pass was defended in the middle half of the pitch.
“We used a lot of energy on defense,” Williams noted, “and that made it tough to transition to offense.”
That was the case until the 18:42 mark of the first half, when Tiger Cubs leading scorer Penelope Cummings was in position to get a rebound off a shot by teammate Jacy Call. Cummings got her shot in the net and her team on the scoreboard.
Southmont tied the match at the 12:49 mark of the same first half as their leading scorer, Jessica Hale, took a pass from Madisen Bensen, and scored her 25th goal of the season.
Hale had finished tied for most goals scored in the Sagamore Conference and as it turned out, it was the last for the senior.
The last goal of the night came at the 26:51 mark of the second half when the Tiger Cubs got a shot in on a scramble in front of South goal keeper Makinzie Wood.
A pass from the outside by Alexandra Dobbs got into the fray in front of the net. It was touched by several players, and the last touch was credited to Cummings, who was credited with her 16th goal of the season, although even she wasn’t sure she hit it in.
But it counted, no matter who got it in the net, and that set the final score.
“It’s hard to beat a good team twice in the same season,” Tiger Cubs coach Alison Dobbs said, noting the 3-1 Greencastle win over South earlier in the season. “We have had some tough games not go our way this season, and South has a lot of good players. We didn’t want to have the happen to us. We played really hard and really well. We did a lot of things right tonight. We had players like Josie Cox, who came off the bench and played in several roles during the match. I really thought Izzy (goal keeper Isabel Adorno) really played well too. She has put so much time in and has improved so much for us.”
The junior goal keeper faced only five shots on goal as her defense kept the ball away.
Wood stopped 10 of the dozen shots she faced.
The loss also means the end of soccer careers for three Southmont seniors.
Hale, along with Jada Graves and Keaira Sanchez, leave with a combined 31 goals and six assists.
“I’m going to miss my seniors very much,” Williams said of the trio, noting that this year’s team had set three new records and tied one for scoring and assists. She also noted that sophomore Molly Williams led the Sagamore in assists. Her 16 were a half-dozen better than a couple other players, and Wood set a school record for saves.
Next up for Greencastle, who will be a member of the new Monon Athletic Conference with five former members of the Sagamore, will be county rival North Putnam, also a Monon member next season.
The Tiger Cubs have a 2-0 win over the Cougars last week in the regular-season finale, so they will face the same challenge of defeating a team twice in the same season.
The two squads also play for the “Golden Boot,” representing the rivalry.
It is the second match of the semifinals today at Greencastle, following the Covington against South Vermillion.
