SHELBYVILLE — To her left, to her right and right at her, Greenfield-Central goalkeeper Jessica Merritt was stopping nearly everything Class 3A eighth-ranked East Central had to offer in Saturday’s Shelbyville Girls Soccer Sectional championship match.
Merritt and her defensive line of Tessa Joyner, Kalyn Moss, Jorja Houston and Chloe Gardner — just like they had planned — were making life tough for the heavily-favored Trojans, a team seeking a third straight sectional title.
East Central had got one by Merritt early in the first half, but with just under 13 minutes remaining in the contest, it was still a one-goal game. The Cougars just hadn’t been able to get anything going on offense.
The Trojans, as highly-ranked teams do, finally broke through with goals in the 68th and 69th minute, and added another against a backup unit to defeat the Cougars 4-0.
“They are the eighth-ranked team in the state for a reason,” Greenfield-Central head coach Brandon Steeno said. “Their best player (Olivia Hopper, 23 goals) didn’t even play. They’re so dynamic. Our plan to help Jessica was to make sure everything was outside the box. They got two shots inside the box the first half and Jessica saved both of them.
“Their (first-half) goal comes from outside the box and deflects off (Jessica’s) back. The second and third were inside the box.”
The lone East Central first-half goal came from junior Ava Leihgeber. In the ninth minute, from the left side of the goal outside of the box, she fired a left-footed rocket that hit the crossbar, but when it ricocheted down Merritt was unable to keep the ball from crossing the goal line.
East Central’s Lexi Watkins, who also came into the tournament with 23 goals, scored two of the team’s final three.
Watkins broke the Cougars’ and Merritt’s wall of defense with 12:36 to go in the match to give EC a 2-0 advantage. Trojan senior Kylie Koelling fired a shot in the upper right corner that Merritt could do nothing about for a 3-0 difference just 1:23 later.
Watkins put the finishing touches on in the 77th minute with a speedy left-to-right move looking for space and then firing a successful attack for the final score of the match.
“We were physical fatigued, and mentally fatigued and we made two mistakes.” Steeno said. “A bad pass on the second one, and we dove too hard on the wing and they got by us (for the third one). The last one we had a bunch of subs in and she had a nice shot from 30 yards out.
“They got their second at 12:36. Up until that point, I had used 13 players, two subs. They had used 18. Not only are they incredibly dynamic, there is virtually no drop off when they make subs. I think, our gas tanks, the gas light was on and they capitalized.”
Merritt had 25 saves, many in spectacular fashion, to help keep the Cougars in the match and with a chance to pull off one of the bigger upsets of the season.
Prior to the second East Central goal, Merritt had a pair of highlight reel diving saves in the 52nd and 56th minute and then topped it with a kick save denying East Central a goal that was heading toward the lower right-corner.
“It was a very intense game and my defense held out really strong and listened really well and stuck to the game plan,” Merritt said. “We trained, stayed calm, and persevered.
“I have to trust myself to make the easy saves first, and then I can make the harder saves. I trusted my defense and my team.”
On the other end, quality offensive tries were slim.
In the 53rd minute, sophomore midfielder/forward Paige McCarley had a run to the goal, but she was stopped before she got near the box. In the first half, freshman Ainsley Robinson had a strong attempt in the fifth minute go to the right of the goal. In the eighth minute, after a long GC free kick, there was congestion in front of the Trojans net, but East Central was able to clear the zone.
“I can’t be upset,” Steeno added. “I told the girls at halftime, ‘If I told you, after watching games and getting ready, at halftime we’re going to be down 1-0 would you guys be happy?’ One-hundred percent. It was 5-0 when we played them last year. Everything we talked about this week, the girls handled it. Our defense was sliding, the girls were communicating, playing hard.”
Greenfield-Central finished its season 6-9-2. East Central won its 10th straight match and has gone 11 matches without a loss. It will play at No. 6 Cathedral Thursday in a regional semifinal contest. Cathedral (13-4-2) advanced with a 2-0 victory over Perry Meridian Saturday.
