By RICHARD TORRES
For the Reporter
FISHERS – The Mudsock rematch is set, but nothing was given on Wednesday night at Royals Soccer Stadium.
In the first Class 3A Sectional 8 semifinal, the Fishers Tigers (10-4-3) scored first to lead the up-and-coming Anderson Indians (13-4) during the fourth minute after a first-round bye.
However, Anderson, who was coming off a thrilling 3-2 penalty-kick shootout quarterfinal win on Monday, refused to go quietly, holding the ninth-ranked Tigers scoreless until the 70th minute before falling 2-0.
In the second semifinal, No. 2 Hamilton Southeastern (12-0-5) built a 2-0 advantage by halftime against Mt. Vernon (11-4-2), but the visiting Marauders rallied back to tie the game in the second half, forcing overtime.
In the first of two seven-minute bonus periods, HSE’s Ameer Abu-Salih put the Royals ahead for good with a 30-yard liner during the 82nd minute en route to a 4-2 win.
“For most teams this would be a wild game, but we’ve been down 2-0 to Westfield. We’ve been down 1-0 to Fishers. We’ve been down 1-0 to Noblesville. We’ve come back every time, so it wasn’t anything new for us going into overtime,” Abu-Salih said. “We knew we were going to take care of business.”
Unlike those Hoosier Crossroads Conference games, which each ended in ties, the Royals had to find a way to score in the 14 minutes of overtime to avoid a penalty-kick shootout.
Abu-Salih did with Mt. Vernon playing shorthanded after a litany of yellow cards were issued in the final 40 minutes of play.
A total of eight yellow cards were handed out with HSE receiving five, including one to the coaches on the sideline. Yet, Mt. Vernon’s third yellow in the 75th minute forced them to compete a man short with junior Antonio Reske netting his second 19 minutes apart from his first.
The card was handed out with the game tied 2-2, after Mt. Vernon cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 51st minute with junior Charlie Cole tapping in a goal as the ball slipped past the line.
Mt. Vernon tied the game two minutes later off a rebound that stemmed from a tipped save by HSE’s Cam Joniec against a Cole shot on goal.
“I didn’t think we kept our composure very well. Give Mt. Vernon a lot of credit. They battled. They fought. They did whatever they could to gain an advantage, and emotions ran high out there, and we got caught up in it,” HSE head coach Chris White said.
Abu-Salih controlled the moment in the first overtime, finding a crease and hammering the ball past Mt. Vernon goalkeeper William Keppler for the go-ahead goal. In celebration, Abu-Salih stripped off his jersey and slid on the field with his teammates in tow, which resulted in the Royals’ fourth yellow card.
“We just kind of had to go to that next gear. We were playing hard obviously, but those two goals kind of pushed us and showed us that this Mt. Vernon team could actually do something to us, so we had to go to that next gear and come out on top,” Abu-Salih said. “That was massive. Probably the biggest goal of my life to be honest.”
A fifth yellow card for HSE was issued to Jonathan Ramos Perez, marking his second, which evened the playing field two 10-on-10 in the 85th minute.
“First time that’s really happened to us where we’ve lost composure, so it’s a good learning piece. Luckily, we get to move on to learn from it, and we’ll get ready for Fishers on Saturday,” White said.
A penalty-kick goal by Abu-Salih in the second overtime session solidified the victory with 2:49 remaining.
“Ameer is explosive, and he finds ways to come up with some big plays,” White said.
The regular season meeting between Fishers and HSE ended in a 1-1 tie on Sept. 10, but Saturday’s 7:15 p.m. final will finally settle a winner and a potential first sectional title for the Royals since 2018. Fishers’ last sectional title was in 2020.
The Tigers eliminated the Royals 3-2 in last year’s semifinal round. They beat HSE 3-1 in the quarterfinals three years ago and lost 4-2 in the 2022 semifinals. In 2020, the Tigers beat the Royals 1-0 in the finals.
Senior Reid Spittler’s penalty-kick goal in the first half and a header goal by sophomore Kraidien Bumbala off an assist from senior Cole Anderson in the second half against Anderson secured the Tigers’ finals berth.
“You really have to take it one game at a time. We were in the sectional final last year and came up short against Noblesville, lost 2-1, so we’ve been there. We hope to win and advance, and we’ll give it everything we got on Saturday,” Fishers head coach Phil Schmidt said.
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