By RICHARD TORRES
For The Reporter
CARMEL – Eight years was long enough for the Carmel Greyhounds.
Winless against the Class 3A No. 17 Noblesville Millers since 2017, the 3A No. 2 Greyhounds ended the drought Monday night with a 3-0 shutout at Murray Stadium on Senior Night.
Senior Adalyn Cameron netted a pair of goals – both in the second half – and senior Emma Ehret supplied the first in the 21st minute, as the nationally-ranked Greyhounds (11-2) won their seventh straight contest.
“It’s big. We’ve come a long way. I feel like our seniors this year are together, helping the younger players to make sure that we’re all doing well,” Cameron said. “It just feels really good that we finally beat them.”
In the past nine meetings between Carmel and Noblesville, the Millers (7-5) owned a record of 6-0-3 since losing to the Greyhounds, 2-1, in 2017.
The two rival programs met in the IHSAA State Finals twice (2019, 2022) with the Millers winning both games en route to five state titles in six years. All three ties occurred in regular-season matchups.
“This was important to the seniors,” Greyhounds head coach John Simmonds said. “It’s important for them to graduate from Carmel High School soccer knowing that they did beat Noblesville their senior year.”
The Carmel starting lineup included nine seniors, but the team’s depth and speed proved relentless with 12 shots in the first half and 20 overall.
The Greyhounds fired six shots on goal against the Millers and converted on their second, as sophomore Savannah Hindman played the ball and slid a pass to Ehret near the top of the box.
Ehret lined her eighth goal of the season past Millers’ goalkeeper Hailey Wilbur, a senior, to put the Greyhounds in control in the first half.
Wilbur recorded three saves. The defense added two team saves, including a corner kick by senior Ryan Weber that almost rattled in off the post in the 12th minute.
The Millers fended off the Greyhounds until halftime despite losing the attack battle 17-6.
“We’ve been growing. We’ve been better every single week. Today was kind of a good opportunity for us to come out against the number two team in the state and prove that we belong on the field,” Noblesville coach Mitch Holden said. “We’ve had some tough games against good teams, and today, I think we proved we can compete when we put our minds to it.”
Noblesville came out aggressive and disrupted the Greyhounds in the midfield to start the second half and matched their attacks 10-10, but Cameron found two opportunities and capitalized.
“She’s very special, and I think she’s probably the best individual player in the state. At this point in time, she’s scored in every game. In many of those games, she’s scored multiple goals,” Simmonds said. “It doesn’t matter how many people mark her. She just has a knack for scoring goals unlike any girl I’ve seen play at the high school level before.”
Cameron ramped up her season goal total to 25 with a penalty-kick conversion in the 42nd minute awarded via a tripping foul during a breakaway attempt and a clean-up shot in the 72nd minute.
“It’s nice getting a goal, but I don’t want to just get one off a PK. I also want to get one off running and doing my job,” Cameron said. “The girl that fouled me, she’s one of my friends. She was just trying to play the game.”
Cameron took a year hiatus from Carmel as a junior, opting for homeschooling, but upon her return she has tallied 42 career goals with 15 in 2023 and two in 2022.
She’s posted multi-goal games nine times this season with three contests with three or more goals scored. She buried four goals in an 8-0 win against Chesterton on Sept. 13.
Cameron has scored a goal in every game but one this year – a 3-1 shootout loss to 3A No. 11 Cathedral. Carmel’s only other loss this season was 3-1 to 3A No. 1 Hamilton Southeastern on Aug. 16.
“Glad to have her back,” Simmonds said. “We’re very fortunate to have her this year because she changes games.”
The Greyhounds are looking to add to their state championship tradition (state best 10 overall), ranked second in the nation by Maxpreps behind Hamilton Southeastern.
Carmel’s shutout win marked its 10th this season and freshman goalkeeper Gwyneth Provost’s ninth.
The Millers head back home next to face 3A No. 16 Penn on Saturday.
Up next for the Greyhounds is a trip to Plainfield on Wednesday before facing potential sectional foes 3A No. 5 Zionsville on the road Saturday and 3A No. 4 Westfield back at home next week.