The trend of close Mudsock contests continued on Wednesday, as the Hamilton Southeastern and Fishers girls soccer teams met for their annual game, this time on the Royals’ TCU Field.
Southeastern, ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, scored on early goal, but the 3A No. 12 Tigers tied things back up in the second half. Thus, the Hoosier Crossroads Conference game ended in a 1-1 tie.
The Royals wasted no time in getting on the board. Ella Wolf found the back of the net 90 seconds into the first half, with Olivia Smith providing the assist.
“I thought we played very well in the first half,” said HSE coach Greg Davidson. “We were really possessing the ball, moving it around pretty well. Good to get that early goal. But against a good team like Fishers, obviously you can’t be comfortable.”
Wolf’s goal would be the only goal for a while, until the 53rd minute when Aubrey Robertson scored for Fishers.
“It was just a great effort on their part to keep the play alive and get that tying goal,” said Davidson.
“I think right now our girls are playing with a lot of heart and determination,” said Tigers coach Ben Beasley. “As the season goes on, we hope to get more and more organized.”
Both teams, as expected, battled for the remainder of the game. Each team had their scoring chances, but the play of both goalkeepers – Southeastern’s Abby Jenkins and Fishers’ Jordan Imes – kept the score tied.
“She has to against players of that quality,” Beasley said of Imes. Her effort included two big saves in the game’s final 20 minutes that most of the time would go in.
“Jordan made some huge saves,” said Beasley. “We had to open up play a little bit to try to get some chances. HSE absolutely dominated us in the first half. It was hard to even get a touch on the ball.”
The Royals are 6-1-2 (2-0-2 HCC) for the year and host Fort Wayne Carroll and Crown Point on Saturday. The Tigers are 1-1-1 (0-1-1 HCC) for the season and host Warsaw on Saturday afternoon.
Noblesville won an all-county game with Westfield on Wednesday, beating Westfield 3-0 in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game at Hallmark Orthodontics Soccer Complex.
Makenna Maloy got the 3A No. 1 Millers’ first goal in the 24th minute. Noblesville then added two more goals late in the second half: Ava Bramblett got the Millers’ second goal, then Jenna Chatterton scored on a header with under two minutes left.
Noblesville is 3-0 in the conference and 4-0 overall, and will host Harrison on Saturday. The Shamrocks are 2-1-1 overall and were playing in their first HCC game of the year. They will host Guerin Catholic at 5:30 p.m. tonight.
Sheridan fell to Beech Grove 7-0 on Wednesday.
The Blackhawks had the first four shots of the game, but were unable to capitalize. The Hornets scored two goals in the first half, then five more in the second half.
Sheridan plays at Lafayette Central Catholic on Saturday morning.
Westfield’s Cheyenne Trefry (left) takes control of the ball while being defended by Noblesville’s Kiana Siefert during Wednesday’s Shamrocks-Millers game at Hallmark Orthodontics Soccer Complex. (Kent Graham)