FORTVILLE — The Greenfield-Central Cougars capitalized early and often during the Class 3A Sectional 12 quarterfinals on Tuesday night at Mt. Vernon High School, while the New Palestine Dragons nearly turned the tournament bracket upside down.
The Cougars (6-8) opened the evening with a decisive 5-1 victory over the Richmond Red Devils (6-7-1) to advance into today’s Mt. Vernon Sectional semifinals.
In the second game, the Dragons (7-10) had defending sectional champion East Central (13-4) on the ropes, but the Trojans found a way to survive, winning, 2-1, in overtime despite being a player short on the field for 45-plus minutes.
East Central and New Palestine battled to a 1-1 tie after the first 40 minutes, but it wasn’t until the 87th minute that the ball would find the net again.
The Trojans seized a 1-0 lead behind an unassisted goal by junior Joseph Roden in the sixth minute, which the Dragons answered in the 36th minute on an assist from sophomore Elliott Canova to his older brother Garrett Canova, a senior.
The Dragons fought uphill a majority of the match as the Trojans out-shot their opponent 21-7, but an opportunity presented itself for New Palestine with 31:22 left in regulation when East Central was issued a red card.
The card was handed out to a Trojans’ defender during a Dragons’ attack as Elliott Canova was tripped on a breakaway attempt. The result was East Central having to compete the remainder of regulation and overtime with only 10 players compared to New Palestine’s 11.
“It was nice to have one of their core defenders in the center out. That opened up a lot for our forwards,” Garrett Canova said. “But (Roden) is really talented and quick as well.”
Roden put the game and the Trojans’ title hopes on his shoulders, fending off double teams and consistent pressure and accounted for nearly all of East Central’s eight shot attempts in the second half.
In overtime, Roden finally put the Trojans ahead, once again, with a sliding kick off a Riley Smith assist in the first-overtime period’s final minute.
The goal rolled into the net with 28.7 seconds remaining, and the Trojans’ defense held on in the second, seven-minute overtime period to fend off the co-Hoosier Heritage Conference champion Dragons.
“We had them. I’m proud of the whole group. We fought like crazy tonight. They never quit. They never gave in. They just did what New Pal does,” New Palestine head coach Brett Canova said. “They worked so hard. (The seniors) have done it for four years, and they’ve done it with the utmost class. But, hats off to East Central. They’re a quality team.”
New Palestine goalkeeper Blake Bobrow held his ground with the exception of East Central’s two goals with six saves, while the defense ricocheted several more away.
“They’re fast, and they’re strong, and they beat us,” Canova said. “They scored two, and we only got one, so hats off to them. It’s still a heck of a season. We accomplished so much this year.”
The Dragons’ season ended, but the path blazed this season won’t soon be forgotten.
In 2019, the Dragons finished the year 3-13-1, followed by a 2-13 campaign in 2020 and a 1-6 record for last place for a second straight year in the HHC.
This fall, they tied with Yorktown, Greenfield-Central and Pendleton Heights for the HHC title with a 5-2 mark.
“We were worst to first. To be here and actually put up a fight against East Central, which we haven’t done historically, was a lot of fun,” Garrett Canova said. “To raise it up and do so much better than we did last year is really nice, and I think it will be really good for the people below us to set a standard that they need to achieve and go above and beyond.”
The Greenfield-Central Cougars will now face East Central in the semifinals today at Mt. Vernon High School at 7:15 p.m. following the first game between the host Marauders (10-6) and Shelbyville (8-8) at 5:30 p.m.
The Cougars had a much easier quarterfinal challenge, taking a 2-0 lead by halftime against Richmond and burying three more goals in the second half.
Senior John Halvorsen, who has missed time due to injury since 2019, put the Cougars up 1-0 with a goal in the fourth minute.
He added the third goal in the 43rd minute off an assist from freshman Gian Colassaco.
Calassaco flashed his speed on the field turf surface and dished out three assists.
“The regular season was a little bit iffy for us. We were trying to figure out a lot of things, it seemed like,” Halvorsen said. “Me, myself, I didn’t get to play much this year, so it’s been a lot, but I do feel, it’s a whole new team now.”
The Cougars showed their potential in waves against Richmond with 27 shots on goal and goals from Jason Scrivner, Drew Davidson and Colassaco.
“I love turf,” Colassaco said. “I feel like I can hit the ball right and just do whatever I want on it. It’s really good, especially in the first game of sectional to get it going.”
The Cougars’ last sectional title run was in 2019, which has the team motivated to possibly get past the defending champions and reach the sectional final on Saturday at 2 p.m.
“It’s always good to get that first one out of the way. We’ve got some young kids, and it’s nice to get a game like that under their belt,” G-C coach Matt McConnell said. “We have felt like it’s been there all season, ready to go. It just wasn’t clicking. It’s starting to click that’s for sure. We’ve been really proud of our defense. Not enough can be said about how good they’re playing. They’re not giving up a lot. It’s hard to beat us if you can’t score.”
Cougars’ goalkeeper Jordin Jones and the defense worked for three saves.
