It took nearly an hour, but the Greenwood High School boys’ soccer team finally got it done last Friday against the tough Harrison Goblins, winning 2-0 to stay unbeaten in 5A West Conference play. After a quiet offensive start, the Bulldogs took advantage of a break to score their first goal of the match.
The ‘Dogs got an odd-man rush and Filippo Turrini finished it with a goal in the 45th minute. The Bulldogs (5-6, 2-0) had several other chances to score during the first half, but were turned away repeatedly by the Goblins. The rush play early in the second half came after a pair of nice passes, the last one by senior Ryan Lensing that set up Turrini for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.
“We’ve got some guys that are a little banged up,” said Greenwood head coach Chris Young said. “Filippo and Colton [McEvoy] were able to go a little bit tonight. We got them some time in and out and actually [they] were the two that scored. They make a big difference. They are able to finish goals and [they] understand the game.”
The Bulldogs put the match away in the 62nd minute when McEvoy weaved through the Harrison defense for an insurance goal. McEvoy found his way past three Goblin defenders, then beat the goalkeeper to set the final margin of victory. It was stellar passing that led to both Greenwood goals and Young was quick to point that out about the second goal.
“We got the ball down in the corner and then played a good ball off to Adam [McFain] and then Adam was patient and laid it off to Colton,” said Young. “Colton, once you get the ball to his feet, good things are going to happen. He was able to finish it. It was just a good team play.” The Greenwood boys has now won four straight matches.
In girls’ soccer action, Harrison’s Sidney Trammell made three straight saves in the shootout to give the Lady Goblins the 5A-West win. The Lady Bulldogs (9-2-1, 1-1) looked to have the edge after Maddie Gilliam scored in the opening round of penalty kicks and goalkeeper Megan Hartness made a diving save. But from that point on it was all Harrison (9-0-2, 2-0), thanks to Trammell’s heroics. The Lady Goblins won 3-1.
Going into the match, the GHS girls knew they would have issues scoring against a solid Harrison team. “We knew coming in that if we could get a goal and beat them 1-0 or get to a shootout, that was our best chance, and we did that,” said coach Young. “We got to the shootout and we have a super goalkeeper. Unfortunately we didn’t hit the ball where we needed to hit it in penalty kicks, and they did.