Tiger Cubs remain unbeaten in WIC play with 8-0 romp over Braves

Greencastle girls’ soccer continued its great start to their 2024 season Tuesday when the Tiger Cubs were back at home for a Western Indiana Conference showdown with Indian Creek.

Greencastle, who came into this week ranked 19th in Class A, dominated from the get-go and were 8-0 winners to stay a perfect 3-0 in WIC play and improve to 6-1 overall.

The Tiger Cubs led 3-0 at halftime with the three goals coming in a four-minute stretch.

Eight minutes in, Ali Dobbs got the hosts on the board and just two minutes later Emily Hunsinger found the back of the net to make it 2-0. A handball in the box by the Braves gave Dobbs a penalty kick, and the senior didn’t miss to make it 3-0 just 12 minutes into the game.

“We’ve talked all season about when we have the opportunity to gain a good lead early in games, that we want to back off some and really work on our technique in some other areas,” Tiger Cubs coach Alison Dobbs said. “We always want to take the opportunity to play the full game because there’s always things we can be working on.”

Greencastle came out with another flurry of goals to begin the second half as Penny Cummings scored just 30 seconds in and made it 5-0 less than two minutes later. Hunsinger added her second goal five minutes into the second half to make it 6-0.

Josie Cox and Lauren Dibble scored the final two goals of the game for the Tiger Cubs as, on the night, five different players found the back of the net.

“It was great to see that we still had a fire and energy to begin the second half and not get complacent,” Dobbs added. “We’ve told Ali that coming into this season she was going to have to trust her teammates and not hold onto the ball and she’s done a good of embracing that mindset (eight assists on the season).

“I’ve been proud of how our other girls have stepped up too. It’s a great combination and group that we have right now offensively with so many girls being able to contribute.”

Another aspect of the Tiger Cubs game, and arguably the most impressive, has been the play of their defense so far this season.

In seven games, Greencastle has given up just six goals, four of which came in one game in its only loss to Danville. It’s already the team’s fourth shutout of the season and Coach Dobbs spoke very highly of how her defense has continued to shine game in and game out.

“Our defense is so fun to watch because they read the field so well,” Dobbs said. “What makes them really special is they’ve been working and playing together for quite some time now.

“Izzy (Camara) has come out this year and put in a ton of work to be our goalkeeper. Danville is one of those games that we’re going to look back and probably want it back, but it can also be used as a learning moment to where we have a little chip on our shoulder.”

The Tiger Cubs return to action Thursday when they’ll travel to take on future Monon Athletic Conference foe Southmont (4-3).