By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – Early goals sent the Noblesville and Fishers girls soccer teams into the Sectional 8 championship on Thursday.
The No. 3-ranked and defending Class 3A state champion Millers used the momentum from their early score to get past No. 2-ranked and sectional host Hamilton Southeastern in the first semifinal game. In the second contest, the Tigers scored early, and then often, to beat Pendleton Heights 3-0.
Noblesville and Fishers play at 6 p.m. Saturday for the Sectional 8 trophy.
Less than a minute
The Millers got on the board in the first minute of play when junior Meredith Tippner put in a short goal. Noblesville played with the lead for the other 79 minutes, holding that 1-0 lead at halftime.
Freshman Delaney Stone scored the Millers’ second goal during the 56th minute.
“We just had to work together as a unit and we were able to get the second goal,” said Stone.
The Royals continued to push during the later minutes of the game, and broke through with less than three minutes left when Abby Straus got a goal. Southeastern kept the intensity until the end with one last corner kick, but Noblesville was able to hang on.
The Royals won the regular-season game, and Millers coach Mike Brady said that being aggressive was the key to win the rematch.
“We talked about it, knowing that it was going to be HSE,” said Brady. “If we weren’t aggressive, there’s no way we win this game tonight.”
Noblesville is now 12-1-3 for the season, while Southeastern finished with a 13-2-3 record.
The Tigers also got a goal during the first minute, with Madeline Meier breaking through. McKinley Boland added a second goal in the 16th minute, and Fishers held a 2-0 lead. Delaney Allgeier opened the second half with a goal, and the Tigers cruised from there.
McKinley Boland (17), Madeline Meier (8) and Delaney Allgeier (4) scored goals for Fishers during its sectional win over Pendleton Heights on Thursday. The
Tigers won 3-0 and will play in the Sectional 8 championship game. (Richie Hall)
“I was really happy we scored in the first minute, because scoring goals has been an issue for us,” said Fishers coach Harold Spooner. “We knew we have talent, we’ve just been struggling to put it in the back of the net.” The coach said his team was focused on “playing hard and making sure we get early goals to take a little bit of the pressure off.”
The Tigers are 4-9-3 for the season.
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Carmel, the top-ranked team in 3A, beat No. 5 Westfield 5-1 Thursday at Murray Stadium to advance to the final of Sectional 10.
The Greyhounds scored first, with Adalyn Cameron getting Carmel on the board. The Shamrocks’ Ava Smith tied it up in the 12th minute, with Kate Malin making the assist.
After that, it was all Greyhounds. Megan Hamm added a goal before halftime to give Carmel a 2-1 lead. Claire Simmonds opened the second-half scoring, Olivia Cebalo put in a goal with 29 minutes left, then Ashlyn Anderson completed the scoring with the Greyhounds’ fifth goal.
Carmel is 15-0-3 and hosts Zionsville at 7 p.m. Saturday for the sectional title. Westfield finished its season 10-3-5.
Carmel’s Rosie Martin (14) takes the ball down the field with Westfield’s Ava Smith (22) and Talia Edwards (40) playing defense. The Greyhounds won 5-1 to reach the Sectional 10 championship game. (Joshua Herd)
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Hamilton Heights took care of Delta 5-0 on Thursday to reach the championship game of Class 2A Sectional 24 at Yorktown.
The Huskies led 2-0 at halftime. Sarah Toll and Ella Hickok both scored two goals, with Natalie Marcum adding one goal. Marcum also handed out two assists, with Savannah Deetz, Lizzy Smith and Shelby Peterson all making one assist. Audrey Lang had 14 saves as goalkeeper.
Heights is 11-4-3 and plays the host Tigers at 7 p.m. Saturday for the sectional title.
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Guerin Catholic, the No. 3 team in 2A, got past No. 1-ranked Brebeuf Jesuit in penalty kicks on Thursday to make the championship game of Sectional 26 at Speedway.
Both teams scored one goal in the first half and one goal in the second half, thus ending regulation in a 2-2 tie. Neither team scored in overtime, so the game went to PKs, where the Golden Eagles won 4-2.
Guerin Catholic is 11-4-1 and plays No. 2-ranked Bishop Chatard at 7 p.m. Saturday for the sectional trophy.
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Sheridan, the host of Class 1A Sectional 37, advanced to the championship game with a 1-0 win over Tipton Thursday.
Lucy Hester scored the game’s only goal during the third minute. The Blackhawks continued fighting in the second half and gained control at the end to advance to the final.
Sheridan is 11-5-1 and plays the sectional championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday. The ‘Hawks take on the winner of tonight’s semifinal between Tri-Central and Eastern.
Photos by Julie Brown & Joshua Herd