(LEFT) Guerin Catholic’s Christian Zermeno (left) and Ryan McGrath (right) have been two of the Golden Eagles’ senior leaders this year. Zermeno has 19 goals and 23 assists to his credit, while the goalkeeper McGrath has nine shutouts. (RIGHT) Guerin Catholic’s Will Scheu has scored 23 goals and handed out 20 assists.
By RICHIE HALL
The further the Guerin Catholic boys soccer team goes in the postseason, the calmer the Golden Eagles seem to be.
Guerin Catholic is plenty excited, of course, to be in the Class 2A state championship game, in which the No. 2-ranked Golden Eagles play No. 11 Bishop Chatard at 6 p.m. Friday at IU Indianapolis’ Michael Carroll Stadium. It’s the first time GC has played for a boys soccer state title since the Golden Eagles won back-to-back 1A championships in 2013-14, during the two-class era.
Guerin Catholic coach Jim Alvarez said the team has taken the approach of “one game at a time and if we win six games, we win the state title.” The coach said the team was nervous to get out of the sectional, and once the Golden Eagles did, “it was almost like a relief.”
Since then, Alvarez said the team “calmed back down and they just have kept increasing their intensity, they way that they play. They feel like they’re on a mission.”
Taking on the Trojans is the last part of that mission, and it means getting another victory this year against a Circle City Conference rival. The two teams met on Sept. 6 and Guerin Catholic won 4-2.
“We play them every year,” said Alvarez. “I’ve made sure that the boys are very aware that Chatard made it to the semi-state last year and that Chatard feels like they should be in the state finals.”
The Trojans are 11-7-2 and came out of the Speedway sectional to start their post-season run. Chatard beat Indianapolis Washington 8-0 in the semifinals and No. 10 Cardinal Ritter 2-1 in the championship match.
In the regional, the Trojans hosted New Castle in the semifinals and won 4-0. That sent them back to Speedway for the regional final, which Chatard won 2-0 over Cascade. The Trojans defeated No. 8 Heritage Hills 2-1 to win the Evansville North semi-state.
Senior Vikas Walling leads the Chatard scoring with 23 goals, with senior Andrew Taylor adding 13 goals. Eli Yancey is the assists leader, dishing out seven during the season.
Guerin Catholic hosted its own sectional, where the Golden Eagles beat Western Boone 12-0 in the semis before getting past No. 3 Park Tudor 3-2 in the championship.
From then on, it’s been smooth sailing. Guerin Catholic traveled to Delta for the regional semifinal and won 5-1, then beat West Lafayette 6-0 to win the regional title at Concordia Lutheran. At the Chesterton semi-state, GC blitzed No. 4 Hanover Central 5-0.
Two senior stars have led the way for Guerin Catholic’s offense. Will Scheu has put in 23 goals, making him first in scoring; he is second in assists with 20. Christian Zermeno has the second-most goals with 19, but leads in assists with 23.
Other top scorers are junior Gus Allen and senior AJ McMurtrey with seven goals each, while junior Connor Klen and seniors Adam Jurewicz and Braden Lindley all have five goals. Senior goalkeeper Ryan McGrath has nine shutouts.
Alvarez credits the Golden Eagles’ tough schedule for helping the team play well. Over half of GC’s schedule consists of 3A teams, and Guerin Catholic beat Louisville Trinity, one of Kentucky’s top teams, 1-0 on Sept. 20.
“Going through that whole process and coming out the way they did, there’s a really unique vibe with these boys,” said Alvarez. “They just feel confident, they get stronger throughout the game and that’s been really fun to watch.”
