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By Nolan Epstein (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Greenwood received goals from seniors Julius Walker, Shaun Kim and Ty Dupree to set the tone in Saturday’s state quarterfinal matchup against Crocker. The Blue Jays (16-5) blanked the Lions (15-4) by a final of 4-0 – setting them up to compete in the Class 1 Final Four in Fenton.
“This is something we’ve been anticipating all season and even since last season,” Dupree said after the quarterfinal triumph. “We’ve really built a battalion of a team.”
With the Blue Jays already up by a 2-0 score in the opening half thanks to early netters by Kim and Walker, Dupree added some valuable insurance with a goal of his own at the period’s 15:59 mark to stretch the lead to three.
If that sounds familiar, it should. Greenwood found itself in the exact same position it was in during its district title tilt against College Heights Christian back on Oct. 20 when it nearly coughed up a three-goal lead in the second half.
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Learning from the near-disaster, head coach Chris Shull made sure his team wouldn’t let its opponent back up for air this time around.
“We got very nervous in the district final,” Shull said. “Being up 3-0 at half is bliss, but we know that you play two halves. I think that really focused us in putting two halves together.”
Greenwood was on the attack early and often as the Blue Jays bombarded Crocker with 14 shots-on-goal in the span of 80 minutes – keeping the Lions on their heels on a constant basis.
“Pretty much our mentality and strategy was to keep possession the whole game,” added Dupree. “That’s what we really made a note of.”
With 15:57 remaining in regulation, Dupree converted one of those 14 shots into in his second score of the day to expand the lead to 4-0. Both of Dupree’s goals came off perfect passes from Walker as the senior duo continued to display the uncanny chemistry they’ve possessed all year.
“We were talking all week long about how this game was going to be dictated by the seniors,” Shull said. “They’ve never been here before. It was a lot of pressure and they stepped up.”
Allowing just two shots-on-goal in the first half of play, the Blue Jays continued to keep up their intensity on defense in the second period. Led by the back-line trio of Aki Coller, June Park and Jared Henry, Greenwood yielded just two more shots the rest of the way to a Crocker squad that was left looking for answers.
“We didn’t play the game we intended to play, and [Greenwood] did,” Lions head coach Darren Boberg said. “We couldn’t get anything going with our forwards and we weren’t getting back. They came to play.”
For the Lions, Saturday’s performance was a far cry from what it had become accustomed to throughout 2016 – a season that included two tournament championships and a ten-match winning streak.
“They came together after the third game of the season and they played awesome,” said Boberg. “Today, it just didn’t work out for us.”
Greenwood will take on St. Paul Lutheran (Concordia), sporting a record of 21-4, on Friday afternoon in a state semifinal showdown.
