Golden Eagles win epic 2A state championship

Ryan McGrath’s save finishes marathon penalty-kick shootout

By RICHIE HALL

sports@readthereporter.com

Ryan McGrath did anything and everything to help the Guerin Catholic boys soccer team win state.

He made 12 saves during the 94 minutes of game time. He came in after getting a bandage put on his head.

McGrath even made one of the 12 penalty kicks that the Golden Eagles made in the championship-deciding shootout between GC and Bishop Chatard in the Class 2A boys final, which took place Friday, Oct. 31 at Michael Carroll Stadium at IU Indianapolis.

Finally, McGrath made the winning save, punching away the Trojans’ last attempt, which clinched No. 2-ranked Guerin Catholic’s 12-11 PK shootout victory over the No. 11-ranked Trojans. The Golden Eagles finished their season 18-4 and won their third boys soccer state title.

Guerin Catholic won two Class 1A state championships in 2013 and 2014, back when soccer was a two-class sport.

“I was walking back, I was at the 18 and I was like, ‘man, it’s going on for way too long. I need to save a [kick],” said McGrath. “I was happy I converted mine, but I really wanted to save one at the end of the day. And I eventually got it done.”

Neither of the Circle City Conference rivals scored during the 80 minutes of regulation and the 14 minutes of overtime, which sent the game to PKs. McGrath was matched on defense only by Chatard goalkeeper Jack Ryan, who made 15 saves during the game.

Tommy Bobay came in for McGrath for a few minutes in the second half after McGrath collided with the post and had to leave for a few minutes. Bobay did his job, making one save, then McGrath came back with a bandage on his head and carried through the remainder of the contest.

McGrath also honored his father, former Guerin Catholic coach Chris McGrath, who passed away in 2021.

“First pen, I was crying,” said McGrath. “I wanted to get the job done. I know he’s up there watching.”

Both teams matched either kick for kick during the shootout. Will Scheu, AJ McMurtrey, Christian Zermeno and Ryan Sheldon all made their kicks for the Golden Eagles, while the Trojans made their first four as well.

Both teams missed their fifth kick, which sent the game into a sudden victory situation. And both teams kept kicking: JP Hoefflin, Gabriel Rios, Matthew Fleming, Caleb McGee and McGrath were the next five GC players to make a kick. Chatard made all five of its kicks as well, so the score was 9-9 after 10 rounds.

Scheu and McMurtrey came back to make kicks, and the Trojans made their next two, making the shootout score 11-11. Finally, Zermeno made the Golden Eagles’ 12^th kick, then McGrath made the stop to seal the win.

“The last half of the year, there’s a prayer that we’ve said,” said GC coach Jim Alvarez. “It’s for St. (Pier Giorgio) Frassati, who is one of the more recently canonized saints. ‘Have the courage to be great.’ And being great doesn’t mean you do great things. It means you do the little things to get there, right? It’s about the process and it’s about going there.”