Venues revealed for two class sectionals

The sectional venues for this year’s inaugural two class soccer tournaments were revealed by the IHSAA last week.

Schools with an enrollment at 755 or higher will participate in Class 2A, and those below this figure will play in Class 1A.

In total there are 32 sectionals in boys’ and girls’ Class 2A, and 32 also in boys’ Class 1A. Class 1A girls will see 16 different sectionals. All games will be played between October 3-8.

The Class 2A Sectional 30 for boys will take place at Floyd Central, while the 2A girls’ sectional will be hosted by Jeffersonville.

Both sectionals will comprise Floyd Central, Jeffersonville, New Albany, Jasper and Corydon.

New Albany boys’ head coach Dutch Vigar said earlier this year he feels the sectional will be “very competitive and tough.”

“Jasper traditionally has a very strong team,” he said. “We have not played them for one or two years but prior to that, they had a better win-lose record against New Albany than we did against them. I feel Jasper will be considered one of the top teams in the sectional.”

The Class 2A boys’ and girls’ sectional winners will compete in a tough Regional 8, along with the winners from sectionals 29, 31 and 32. Victors could include the likes of powerhouse Evansville Memorial, Washington, Castle and Terre Haute North/South.

There will be two Class 1A boys’ soccer sectionals in the area. Charlestown will host Sectional 59, which consists of Charlestown, Henryville, Salem, Austin and Trinity Lutheran.

Providence will host Class 1A Sectional 60, which comprises Christian Academy of Indiana, North Harrison, Providence, Rock Creek Community Academy and Silver Creek.

Both sectional winners will play in Regional 15, which will take in the winners from the Jac-Cel-Del and Switzerland County tournaments.

The seven team Class A Sectional 45 for girls will take place at Rising Sun. It will feature the hosts, Charlestown, CAI, Providence, Silver Creek, Southwestern and Switzerland County.

The champion will play a one-off game in Regional 15 against the Forest Park sectional winner (tentatively scheduled for Providence).

All regional games will take place between October 12-15. The semi-states will be a two-game format in both classes on October 22, with the state final games taking place at Kuntz Stadium in Indianapolis on October 29.

This is a welcome departure from the much criticized heretofore two-games-in-a-day final four format.

Hopes are high at Providence that its girls will go on a deep run in Class 1A.
Their confidence is well founded. Of the 32 sectional girls’ winners in last season’s IHSAA tournament, only two – Providence and Evansville Mater Dei — will contest in the new Class 1A.

The Pioneers’ boys’ team is also confident of some success, while Christian Academy of Indiana will be hoping to challenge Providence for hardware too, having taken them to a penalty shootout at last year’s Jeffersonville sectional.

Coaches of programs at smaller schools believe the new system will create opportunities for them to advance in postseason, although there will be fewer local rivalry games in the tournament, and more travel because of the distance between schools.