LINCOLN CITY, Ind. — Joe Asbury wouldn’t want it any other way.
His schedule has followed a pattern over the last 30 years. You can find him on a soccer pitch from July-October before retreating inside during the winter months. But once the snow melts around Southern Indiana, Asbury makes residence on the softball diamond as a two-sport varsity coach for Heritage Hills High School.
Asbury has honestly never known anything different. He was a three-sport athlete at Central where his father, Bill, was a teacher and athletic director for nearly four decades. Those passions followed Joe to Indiana University and eventually Spencer County. Eventually, it extended to his own family and wife, Lisa.
“I really don’t have hobbies,” Asbury said. “It’s what I know. I like high school sports and supporting them. It’s just what our family does. And it is a pleasure. It’s not work for me.”
Despite the calendar approaching November, Asbury has yet to hang up the whistle this fall. That’s due to his program, the one he helped start three decades ago, being on the precipice of its biggest moment ever.
No. 8 Heritage Hills plays No. 11 Indianapolis Chatard in the Class 2A boys soccer semistate at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday, Oct. 25, at North High School. The reward for winning? A spot in the IHSAA state championship. This is only the Patriots’ second visit to this stage, the other coming four years ago.
“We’re working together now instead of working for ourselves,” senior Dylan Toy said. “We all work as a team. That kind of makes us different. We built a culture around our team to where we want everybody to be in the right mindset and want everybody to have the best game they can.”
These moments have been few for Heritage Hills in soccer. Not for lack of trying.
Asbury has won eight conference, seven sectional and two regional titles across 30 years with the Patriots. He ranks 19th in state history, between boys and girls coaches, at 363 victories. What started as a continuation of the North Spencer recreational league in 1995 transformed into an annual contender in the Pocket Athletic Conference.
So why not more? There’s typically been a roadblock in the form of a talented opponent. More often than not, it was Memorial.
But with the former up in Class 3A, there was an opening for someone to make a run. Enter a Heritage Hills team needing to replace 11 seniors. The shift in leadership resulted in issues those initial weeks, chiefly rooting out errors caused by going “through the motions.” But once resolved, the Patriots got on a roll.
No losses since Sept. 16. Only five goals allowed in the last 10 matches. Heritage Hills won a share of the PAC title before emerging as the final team standing in Southwestern Indiana. The Patriots beat Boonville and Mater Dei in the sectional. Next came regional victories over surprise finalists Vincennes Lincoln and Batesville.
“Our (soccer) community has really grown over the years,” Asbury said. “We’re striving for conference championships, sectional championships and beyond. We’ve got a standard of competing at a high level. That’s trickling down. Our middle school program has been strong for a while.”
Heritage Hills (15-3-2) has another group of impactful seniors led by Carter Payne (13 goals), Berke Eisenhauer (eight goals, eight assists) and Toy. Add in junior Fabian Garcia (19 goals, eight assists) and a large sophomore class. The Patriots have finished shy of double-digits victories just once since 2014.
There’s an obvious focal point in the lineup with a pair of double-digit goal scorers. Where Heritage Hills really shines is ball possession and distribution. The attack wants the ball in a certain spot in order to maximize the talent of its forwards. That pairs well with a defense which allowed multiple goals just once since Sept. 16.
“We are ready to work,” Eisenhauer said. “This year, we are very goal oriented and all looking towards the same thing. A lot of people didn’t believe in us this year. We used that to fuel us during everything. It pushed us to make us a better team.”
Heritage Hills was close four years ago. The Patriots lost to Brebeuf 7-6 on penalty kicks in the rain at Central High School. That team was more dynamic with more individual technical ability than this group. But the impact that run made is still felt within the program. Toy and the other seniors, who were in middle school in 2021, could name “half the names on that roster” at minimum.
Heritage Hills also benefited from being the best version of itself at the right time. Washington lost to PAC co-champion Gibson Southern, who then lost to Vincennes Lincoln in the sectional. No. 16 Charlestown also lost to Batesville in the regional semifinal. But the Patriots kept winning. That’s the only goal at this point.
“We knew we were a capable team,” said Asbury, who also has over 400 victories in softball. “You’ve got to continue to improve as the season goes on. We did. There were some upsets in 2A. At the same time, our kids should be commended for not being one of those teams. They’re not trying to do things they’re not capable of. They’ve accepted their roles.”
Heritage Hills could take it one step further. Standing in its way is Chatard, another program of similar historical success. The Trojans (10-7-2) defeated Cascade 2-0 to earn their second regional championship ever. The other came last season, which ended in the semistate to Memorial. Guess who can relate?
Both are similar in terms of roster make up. Chatard has a standout in senior Vikas Walling (22 goals) and a second complementary scorer in senior Andrew Taylor (12 goals). The Trojans battled a tough schedule before turning the corner in the postseason: a 16-1 goal differential over the last four games.
The plan starts from the back forward. If the Patriots establish a defensive identity, a state championship berth becomes possible. Every moment at this stage is magnified. Whoever makes the fewer mistakes usually wins.
“I think our kids are going to feel pretty confident,” Asbury said. “We feel like we’ve got a chance. At the same time, we have to play really well. We have to buy in and execute. We’ve got to have an energy about us that is appropriate for the moment.”
Kyle Sokeland is a sports reporter for the Courier & Press. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @kylesokeland or email at kyle.sokeland@courierpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: How Joe Asbury has Heritage Hills soccer on the doorstep of the IHSAA state championship
Reporting by Kyle Sokeland, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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