Jonathan Green was about the take the most important penalty kick of his life – when he slipped.
But it worked out.
Newport Central Catholic’s junior midfielder scored what ultimately was the biggest goal of the Thoroughbreds season – it was enough to give them the 36th District title, a 1-0 win over Highlands (3-1 in PKs) on Tuesday at Morscher Park Sports Complex.
Green’s goal thus gave NewCath its first district title since 2015.
“It means everything,” Green said. “We haven’t won in eight years – first time winning in eight years means a lot.”
Green was NewCath’s fourth kicker. He wanted to go to his right against Highlands keeper Jack Wilson.
“I went middle,” Green said. “I normally go to the right, I tried to go to the right, slipped, and kicked it to the middle.”
NewCath coach Ben Williams also saw Green slip.
“I didn’t know what he was doing,” Williams said. “I’m just glad it went in.”
NewCath (15-5) has become familiar with beating Highlands with goals from the penalty spot – the Thoroughbreds defeated the Bluebirds, 3-2 (5-4 in PKs) on Sept. 12.
What was more, at least to NewCath – this year’s two wins over the Bluebirds were the first time it’s happened since 2015.
“The first time we beat Highlands this year, it was 14 games in the middle of that,” Williams said. “To do it twice in a season is unbelievable.”
NewCath shot the first PK, and Vinny Petroze beat Wilson down the middle. The Thoroughbreds’ Mason McCloskey denied the Bluebirds’ Adarsh Khullar by diving to the right side (Khullar’s left).
“I think (Khullar) had four PKs against me in two games, and he went the same way every time,” McCloskey said, who saved two of them.
In the second round, NewCath’s Brady Diedenhofer and Highlands’ Jack Haggard both scored. In the third, NewCath’s Ryan Desmond and Highlands’ Harrison Gamble missed.
After Green’s goal, Zach DeSylva’s shot went wide right.
Highlands coach Suli Kayed was calmly philosophical about the Bluebirds’ performance.
“We did almost everything we asked them to do,” Kayed said. “It’s a cruel game; there’s nothing that I can get down on the boys about. It’s a cruel game, but we’re very fortunate that we can continue to play into next week.”
Highlands’ (11-5-2) early second-half sequence might have caused NewCath fans at least a little indigestion.
In the 50th minute, DeSylva’s header clanked off the crossbar, and McCloskey denied Chad Gesenhues about a minute later.
The Bluebirds still had two more scoring opportunities.
In the 56th minute, when McCloskey misjudged the ball, Highlands’ Craig Miller missed a header over the crossbar; in the 89th, McCloskey stopped Gesenhues’ shot from about 20 yards out.
“We just couldn’t do the finishing piece, right?” Kayed said. “Mason McCloskey, their goalkeeper, played a great game. How many times did we hit the crossbar? I don’t know how many corner kicks we had (Tuesday); I’m sure it’s in the double digits.”
Both teams advance to next week’s Ninth Region tournament. First-round games will be played at division winners’ home fields, with the semifinals and championship at Boone County.
There was one more question to answer: Will Green’s teammates tease him for slipping before scoring?
“Yeah,” Green said. “Probably.”