It’s been nine years since Greenwood’s boys’ soccer team reached the Region 4 tournament.

Little wonder then that the Gators are determined to stick around awhile.

Greenwood (10-10-2) opened its first regional appearance since 2013 with a strong 7-2 win over Warren East in the quarterfinals Monday at Warren Central High School, earning a spot in Wednesday’s semifinals against Todd County Central.

“We played really well, we applied pressure well,” Greenwood senior Drew Smothers said. “East is a pretty good team. We just kept the pressure on them and we played a good ballgame, just kept the balls low, good crosses in and we just put them in the back of the net.”

The District 14 runner-up Gators pounced on the District 15 champion Raiders – making their first-ever regional appearance after shifting from District 14 this season – with a goal in the second minute. Andy Alfaro sent a cross into the box and teammate Jonas Gwishi was ready. The senior made a run down the left side of the box and pushed a shot past Raiders goalkeeper Stevan Rodriguez for the early lead.

It was the start of a big night for Gwishi. The senior finished with three goals for his first career varsity hat trick.

“In the beginning of the season I believe he started as a center-back, maybe played as six (defensive midfielder) as well,” said Eric Bowers, Greenwood’s junior-varsity coach who continues to fill in for head coach Luis Llontop while he remains abroad due to a family matter. “He can kind of fill in anywhere. He can control the ball well, move the ball forward and when we put him in the box like that as a forward he is just hungry for the ball and wants to put it in the goal. And that’s what we need up there.”

Gwishi struck again in the 11th minute, this time finishing with a rising blast from the box that tucked under the crossbar off a cross from Carlos Hercules.

Ten minutes after that, the Gators pushed their lead to 3-0 when Smothers punched in a goal after tracking down a loose ball in the middle of the box.

Warren East (12-5) responded with the most stylish goal of the night. On a corner kick, Raiders freshman Andrew Barbalas went up high and snapped off a reverse kick that froze the Gators for a goal with 12:23 left in the first half.

That goal briefly recharged the Raiders, but Greenwood’s Anthony Hercules deflated them once more with a long-ball goal from the right side that found the left corner of the net with five minutes left in the half.

It was a disappointing half for Warren East, which battled the Gators tough in two regular-season matchups – losing 3-2 and 3-1 in those games.

“We didn’t come to play today and that’s the honest truth,” Raiders coach Luis Cano said. “We warmed up on the field while they were here to play. They came ready to play – we were warming up in the first 30 minutes. The first three shots of the game (by Greenwood) went into the goal. It’s hard to overcome a deficit that big, that soon.”

Greenwood kept rolling in the second half, as Carlos Hercules netted a goal on a well-placed long ball and Dylan Goad tallied a goal from the top of the box on a shot that curled into the right corner to push the lead to 6-1.

The Raiders got one back with 8:11 to play when Misael Giron – who was named to the all-tournament team – finished a second-chance opportunity after Neyson Duran’s initial shot was denied for a save.

Gwishi completed his hat trick with 6:07 to play with a pinpoint shot past the keeper on a run down the right side after getting a through ball from Imran Karamova.

“We put a lot of pressure on them,” Gwishi said. “We won the ball, every ball we’d win.”

The loss ended a stellar season for the Raiders, who made school history by as the first boys’ team to win a district tournament and the first to reach regionals.

“Warren East has always had talent to compete with our local teams in Warren County,” Cano said. “We have shown that consistently throughout the last couple of years. We’re a 2A school – we have schools out here that are 4A, 5A pushing 6A. When we put stuff together and we get it right – we get our heads right – we come out and we compete the right way, we can play with anybody.”