Mudsock week kicked off on Tuesday with the Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern boys soccer teams facing off at the Tigers field.
There was no loser in this game, but also no winner. The match ended in a 1-1 tie. As a result, each team received a half-point in the overall sports standings, which means each school now has 2.5 points.
“That’s the beauty of soccer,” said HSE coach Chris White. “It’s not always just win or lose. You got to take advantage of opportunities. Coach (Phil) Schmidt’s done an incredible job coming over from Avon. He’s got them turned around. They are playing extremely hard and they’re very well-organized in the back.”
Class 3A No. 12 Fishers scored the first goal of the weather-delayed game with 6:05 left in the first half. Elliott Mozingo sent the ball into the goal box, where Cam O’Connor touched it in.
“I’m so proud of our team,” said Schmidt. “Guys played hard. Obviously we would’ve liked to have finished with the win, but the guys played so hard tonight. HSE is a good team and a great program. I think we’ve come a long way in a short amount of time and I think the guys really battled and challenged tonight for everything they could.”
It took the 3A No. 2 Royals until the second half to get the equalizer, but they did with 14:57 left. The goal was scored in a similar way: Sean Williams got the ball into the box, and Harsahil Gandham put it in the net.
“I was really proud,” said White. “I thought it was the most complete game that we’ve played this year.”
Fishers is now 6-1-1 for the season and are presently leading the Hoosier Crossroads Conference standings: The Tigers are 3-1-1, which translates into 10 points. Zionsville has a 3-0 record, which gives the Eagles nine points.
The Royals are 5-0-2 overall and 2-0-1 in the conference.
Both teams play at home on Thursday, with Southeastern hosting Kokomo and Fishers welcoming Pendleton Heights.
In another all-county game, Noblesville beat Westfield 1-0 on Tuesday.
This game was also delayed for half an hour due to thunderstorms. The first half was played to a scoreless tie, then Millers freshman Parker Ault sent a pass to Drew Barnes, who slid the ball into the back of the net. Noblesville then held off a hard-charging Shamrocks team in the final 10 minutes of the game.
The win was the first for the Millers in the HCC this season and brings their record to 1-2 in the conference and 3-3-1 overall. Westfield is 0-4 in the HCC and 1-5-1 overall.
Noblesville will travel to Fort Wayne on Saturday to play two games, first taking on Blackhawk Christian at noon, then playing 3A No. 12 Homestead at 5:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Westfield will host its own invitational, starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
Carmel won a Metropolitan Conference game with Lawrence North 2-0 on Tuesday.
Junior Babacar Diatta scored both goals for the 3A No. 14 Greyhounds. Senior Alex Cline and junior Drew Finkam both made one assist. Senior Brody Sullivan recorded the shutout.
“I felt that our team shape defensively is getting better and better each game,” said Carmel coach Shane Schmidt. “I also liked how we were attacking down the wings and being dangerous with our services through the box.”
The Greyhounds are 3-1-3 for the season and host 3A No. 19 Lawrence Central on Thursday to continue MIC play.
Hamilton Heights, ranked No. 13 in 2A, played to a 1-1 tie with 1A No. 19 Lafayette Central Catholic on Tuesday.
The Knights scored the game’s first goal off a second chance attempt 15 minutes into the first half. The Huskies got the equalizer with 12 minutes left in the second half when Luke Vanderwall connected on a 20-yard shot.
Heights outshot LCC 13-7. Caleb Grabarz made six saves and was one of the Huskies’ co-players of the game. The other was Mitchell Walbolt, who Heights coach Derrick Dean said “had to help fill the void of two injured seniors who could not play tonight. He did a great job shutting down the Knights attacks in central defense.”
The Huskies are scheduled to play in the Hoosier Conference tournament this week.
Hamilton Southeastern’s JP Suarez (10) dribbles the ball while being defended by Fishers’ Yuto Nakamae (4), Mitchell Rambo (25) and Kevin Natzel (3) during the Mudsock game Tuesday at the Tigers’ field. Fishers and the Royals played to a 1-1 tie. (Kirk Green)