Hounds pull away from Culver to win 2A state title

The REPORTER

The Carmel boys lacrosse team made a second-half surge to beat Culver Academies 15-11 in the championship game of the IHSLA Class 2A state tournament, which took place Saturday, May 30 at Brownsburg.

Carmel led 3-2 after the first quarter. Evan Coulter scored two goals for the Greyhounds, with E.B. Warren getting a goal in between.

Culver, which came into the game undefeated, jumped ahead 6-4 during the middle of the second quarter, but Carmel scored the period’s last three goals to take a 7-6 halftime lead. Ike Stitle scored two goals in the second quarter, including the tying goal, with Luke Shrift also getting a goal. Coulter put in the go-ahead goal with under 20 seconds left.

The Hounds quickly took control of the third quarter, with Henry Dvorak and Warren scoring goals during the first two minutes. Stitle later added back-to-back goals, then E.B. Warren put in his second goal of the game with just under two minutes left.

Culver scored with one minute left in the third quarter, cutting Carmel’s lead to 12-9 going into the fourth. Lincoln O’Leary took over, putting in two goals during the first half of the fourth and giving the Greyhounds their largest lead at 14-9.

Culver scored two goals with under two minutes left, but Stitle finished the game by scoring one more goal with 41 seconds on the clock.

The Greyhounds finished the season 17-2 and avenged one of their regular-season losses. Culver beat Carmel in its final regular-season game.