Being a senior, Tristan Thomas entered the soccer season knowing he would be asked to shoulder more responsibility.
The Whiteland forward admits it wasn’t an overnight process, but as the season progressed, so did Thomas. He leads the Warriors into tonight’s first-round sectional match against Roncalli with a team-high 13 goals while chipping in three assists.
“Tristan has definitely grown a lot, and has kind of taken off this year,” Whiteland coach Justin VanHorn said. “He is extremely fast, so offensively we try to find him. Once he gets past the back line, there aren’t a whole lot of players who can catch back up to him.
“He’s also really good at getting behind defenses and finding teammates who are open.”
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Tonight marks the second time in 10 days Whiteland has faced Roncalli. The latter tallied five second-half goals to down the visiting Warriors, 5-1, late in the regular season.
It was Thomas’ goal that had given Whiteland a 1-0 advantage at intermission.
Thomas is the younger brother of former Whiteland and Franklin College standout Jordan Thomas, a midfielder who produced 51 starts, 18 goals and five assists during his Grizzlies career, which spanned from 2016-19.
The family actually lived in England when Tristan was 1 and moved back to Indiana a few years later.
It was around that time that Tristan, the youngest of David and Lorraine Thomas’s four children, began immersing himself in the sport.
“I’ve been playing soccer since I was 4 years old,” Tristan Thomas said. “My older brother, Jordan, is the one who got me interested. It was just cool to watch him play. Seeing him enjoy it made me want to play it as well.”
Thomas broke into the starting lineup last season, helping the Warriors finish 10-4-3 and tie Plainfield at the top of the Mid-State Conference standings. However, with 82 percent of the team’s goals being scored by graduating seniors, Whiteland needed new standouts to emerge.
“Coming into this season, I was a little scared because I knew I was going to have to pick up the responsibility of the seniors last year,” said Thomas, whose oldest brother, Anthony, is one of the Warriors’ assistant coaches.
“At first, it was hard, but the other seniors on our team have been stepping up and leading, too.”
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Class 3A Center Grove Sectional
Today
Roncalli vs. Whiteland, 6 p.m.
Tuesday
Southport vs. Greenwood, 5 p.m.
Franklin vs. Perry Meridian, 7 p.m.
Wednesday
Center Grove vs. Roncalli/Whiteland winner, 5 p.m.
Tuesday’s winners, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 7 p.m.
Class A Southwestern Sectional
Today
Oldenburg Academy vs. Morristown, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Greenwood Christian vs. Southwestern, 5 p.m.
Hauser vs. today’s winner, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Championship, 7 p.m.
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Class 3A Center Grove Sectional
Players to watch: Center Grove — Ely Detty, Aaron McDaniel, Landen Montfort, Caiden Stoneburner; Franklin — Griffin Atkison, Colin Haveman, Aaron Richards; Greenwood — Josh Harris, Konner Winn, David Young, Edan Young; Perry Meridian — Joseph Bawi, Bawi Ting Lian, Sang Lian, Victor Thang; Roncalli — Jair Ramirez, Samuel Gantner; Southport — Abawi Bawi, Cung Ro Bawi, Hector Gonzales, Arohn Mantun, Albert Thang; Whiteland — Nolan Ferguson, J.D. Lompo, Yahir Lugardo, Tristan Thomas
What to expect: Being the lone ranked club and benefitting from a favorable draw, No. 20 Center Grove would seem the favorite to pick up its first sectional championship since 2016. Since then, the southside schools have dominated, with Perry Meridian, Roncalli and Southport all winning titles. The Cardinals defeated the Trojans, 2-0, in the regular season; Center Grove opened the regular season with a 2-2 against Roncalli, and those two squads could be headed toward a semifinal meeting on Wednesday.
Class A Southwestern Sectional
Players to watch: Greenwood Christian — John Amador, Sam Graves, Fernando Lagunas, Charlie Overton; Hauser — Carlos Cuevas, Aleck Lopez, Cameron Scott, Carter Scott; Morristown — Jordan Battles, Chase Theobald, Eli Wiggins; Oldenburg Academy — Race Carle, Eric Cornelius, Chris Hautman; Southwestern — Aiden Hartsell, Anick Hartsell, Jordan Jones
What to expect: This site is flat-out loaded, with the host Spartans ranked 11th, but within view of No. 16 Greenwood Christian and 17th-ranked Oldenburg. Wednesday’s first semifinal possesses plenty of goal potential with GCA’s Amador (23 goals) and Southwestern’s tandem of Aiden and Anick Hartsell, who between them have tallied 60 goals and dealt 35 assists this season. The Spartans beat the Cougars, 10-2, on Sept. 11.
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