BELLBROOK – For the first 30 minutes, Greenville went toe-to-toe with third-seeded Bellbrook in a Division II boys soccer sectional matchup.
But when the Golden Eagles Bryce Ferrin found the back of the net at the 10:16 mark of the first half, the floodgates opened as the home team cruised to a 6-0 win to advance in the tournament while the Green Wave’s season came to an end.
It was less than a minute after Ferrin’s goal that the Golden Eagles scored again. This time, it was Enzo Machado at the 9:57 mark. Machado would score three more goals all in the second half to lead Bellbrook to the victory.
“They were beatable, but we made the same mistakes over and over all season,” Greenville coach Mark Coppess said. “We allowed easy goals because we can’t mark our men. Offensively we’re playing well, but it is what it is. I did not expect a 6-0 game. I was expecting 2-1 or 3-2 or something similar like that which is what was possible knowing what we have done throughout the season, but we had a lot of freshmen out there. They stepped up and were some of our better players tonight again so that is encouraging for next year. It is another building year.”
Despite the fact that Bellbrook scored six times, Greenville sophomore Jacob Maher had an outstanding game in goal with several phenomenal saves that prevented the score from being even higher. He was so impressive even winning coach Bob Parks commented about him.
“Greenville’s goalkeeper had an outstanding night,” Parks said. “He made several very good saves. He is definitely going to be good for their program the next few years.”
“Jacob has been real solid this year and tonight he made some phenomenal saves,” Coppess said. “He’s a key part back there.
“I’m disappointed in the way we are allowing goals to be scored,” he continued. “It’s kind of a bittersweet moment I guess. I’m upset with the results, but happy to see what is coming down the line. We had three freshmen, two sophomores and three juniors on the field tonight, so we’re young and we are still building. This is only my third year here. Kids are still getting used to things and we just now are starting to get the kids up here that have been under me the last 5-6 years. You can watch some of these freshmen that are doing the things I ask them to do and play the way they are supposed to be playing and that’s what is encouraging.”
Greenville’s season ends with a 2-13-2 record, while Bellbrook (8-5-4) moves onto to face Eaton in the next round on Thursday.
“It was a nice way to start the tournament,” Parks said. “First games are always difficult. Tournament nerves I guess. Everybody has them, so it takes a while to settle down, but now that we have a game under us hopefully we can advance through the tournament and have some success.
“There were a few opportunities early that we missed and once that happens it seems like the team tightens up until the ball goes in the back of the net and then you relax again,” he continued. “I believe we scored two goals in about two minutes. As soon as one goes in then everybody kind of exhales, relaxes and gets back to playing especially when you miss some opportunities early.”
