by Tyler Thompson
The Greenfield Boys Soccer team won the Dr. T. Stone Memorial Showcase for the first
time in the tournament’s existence, and open the season strong with a 3-0 record. Although Greenfield lost several starters this year, the team makes a strong statement in this tournament.
Greenfield faced Epiphany, first on August 12 and won 8-4 with goals by Nathan Lozevski (1), Porter Wells (4), and Landyn Coolbaugh (3). The following day, Greenfield faced Grace Christian and won 4-0 with goals by RJ Shealy (2), Porter Wells (1), and Tyler Thompson (1). The boys then faced DASH in the final game of the tournament and won 1-0, with the lone goal scored by RJ Shealy.
Going into the tournament, many people thought that Greenfield would not be able to repeat the season they had last year. “I felt that we had some ground to make up after we lost 6 starting spots, and I think we’ve got something to prove this year,” said Greenfield captain Lee Powell.
Greenfield opened up strong in the tournament outscoring Epiphany 8-4. Landyn Coolbaugh, an 8th grader, scored a hat trick, and Porter Wells had 4 goals.
In the second game, Greenfield struck hard against Grace, the previous State Runnerup, beating them 4-0.
The final game was the championship game against DASH. The first half saw 0 zero goals. At the beginning of the first half, DASH had the ball in Greenfields defending third several times. In fact, DASH even had a shot that went in, but was called offsides.
“It kind of woke us up,” said Powell. “It didn’t count but it definitely woke us up… I think that the offsides goal ‘flipped the switch’.”.
After the goal had been called off, Greenfield was reenergized. Shortly after, RJ Shealy delivered a decisive goal to launch Greenfield up in the game 1-0. After this goal, Greenfield was able to hold off DASH with help from goalie Nick Wester (11 saves) to win 1-0.
Although some doubted Greenfield, the students remained optimistic. “I knew that we were going to be able to start off strong,” said Bailey Hayes.
Greenfield looks to carry this optimism to a playoff run and win the State Championship for the third year in a row to remain a dominant soccer team
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