Gibson Southern boy’s soccer season comes to an end

The Gibson Southern boy’s soccer 2020 postseason came to an end on October 17th with a 4-0 loss against Memorial at Heritage Hillis in the semi-regionals game. The team finished the season with a record of 17-2-1. Despite the loss, head coach Chris Barthel wouldn’t have changed anything.

“I really don’t think I would do anything differently in the final game,” Barthel said. “We just didn’t capitalize on the few chances we had.” 

The players said they knew Memorial was going to be a tough team and it wasn’t going to be an easy game. Memorial had been in more tournament style games then Gibson Southern, as last year Gibson Southern lost against Washington in the sectional finals, while Memorial had won state. Gibson Southern kicked off post-season by playing against Vincennes Lincoln at home in the sectional semi-final on October 7th since the team had a bye in the first round. Gibson Southern won with a score of 10-0. The boy’s team played Washington at home for the title of Sectional Champions, but winning the Sectional was the team’s goal for the season.

“Sectionals may not sound like a big deal to some people but for us it was everything,” senior Cole Walker said. “It had been quite some time since Gibson Southern has beat Washington.” 

Every game was a gift from God, according to Barthel, despite playing with leading players out with COVID at times.

This was made apparent during the season when junior Mosbah Alshwikh, the second highest goal scorer on the team, was out for two weeks. The team totaled 86 goals this season, which is more than twice the national average. The team was satisfied with the way the season ended, despite the uninvited loss against Memorial.

“I was very satisfied with the postseason,” sophomore Blake Elpers said. “We accomplished most of the goals that we set, and we improved a ton.”