The Greensburg boys soccer team traveled to Rushville on Saturday
morning to play for the “Battle for the Ball” trophy and came away
with a win after a penalty kick shootout. Rushville’s Lorenzo
Solfanelli started the scoring after a transition attack saw
Solfanelli slip past the Greensburg defense and put one past
Greensburg’s Braylon Hahn. The Pirates showed resiliency and responded
before half when freshman Ethan Smith found John Robbins for the
equalizing goal. The Lions and Pirates battled for the entirety of the
second half, both teams getting opportunities, but none falling,
leading to two scoreless overtime periods. After the overtime periods,
because it was a conference game, Greensburg and Rushville went to a
penalty kick shootout. Greensburg shot first and sent John Robbins to
the PK spot and the sophomore buried his kick, putting the Pirates up
1-0 in the shootout. Rushville followed, but their first PK attempt
was saved by Greensburg goalkeeper Braylon Hahn. Greensburg’s second
shooter was Hunter Springmeyer and he was able to put the Pirates up
2-0 in the shootout. Rushville’s second attempt was sent over the
crossbar, keeping the score at 2-0. Greensburg’s 3rd attempt was saved
by Rushville’s goalkeeper, sophomore Griffin Norris, keeping the PK
score at 2-0. Rushville’s third attempt went wide of the goal, leading
to freshman Ethan Smith’s game sealing penalty kick on Greensburg’s
4th PK attempt. The 3-0 PK shootout win is Greensburg’s third straight
win and bumps their record to 5-5-1 (2-1 in the EIAC). This is the
second time in three years that Greensburg has won the “Battle for the
Ball” trophy in their annual game with Rushville.
Cody DeVolld