The defense of the Westfield girls soccer team had been showing what it’s capable of in recent games.
On Wednesday, the Shamrocks turned in their finest defensive performance yet. Westfield stunned Class 3A No. 3 Hamilton Southeastern 1-0 in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game at the Shamrocks’ field.
“What I just told them is, this just shows us that we’re getting better and better, and we need to continue to carry this momentum going forward,” said Westfield coach Hannah Eggert.
The Shamrocks got the game’s only goal with 11:28 left in the second half when Madison Niehaus converted a penalty kick.
“She had a lot of composure stepping up,” said Eggert. “I always say to them, ‘If you feel it, take it.’ She did that and she was composed and she put it in the back of the net for us.”
After that, Westfield held firm against the Royals, who made several attacks during the game’s final minutes. Southeastern had 18 total shots in the game. Sydney Payne made several big saves to preserve the shutout.
“I think our back line really did a nice job,” said Eggert. “They have some really good players up top. Lauren Soukup for us had an unbelievable game.”
“We kept them in front of us, which is what we wanted,” said Eggert. “We prevented as many shots as we could.”
The win improved Westfield’s HCC record to 2-1, and the ‘Rocks are now 4-2-1 overall. The Royals dropped to 2-1-2 in the conference and are 8-2-2 overall.
“We got to continue working on our offense to be able to finish those opportunities that we’ve done so great to create,” said Southeastern coach Greg Davidson.
The Royals are back in action tonight, hosting Mount Vernon at 7 p.m. Westfield is off until Monday, when it plays at Pendleton Heights.
Noblesville, the No. 1-ranked team in 3A, found itself in an unusual position during its Wednesday game at 3A No. 15 Zionsville.
The Millers trailed for most of the game, but two late goals by Kiana Siefert got Noblesville out of trouble and on its way to a 3-2 Hoosier Crossroads Conference win.
The first three goals of the game were scored in a hurry. The Eagles got the first two, going up 2-0 just seven minutes into the contest. The Millers’ Makenna Maloy cut the lead to 2-1 in the game’s ninth minute by putting a free kick into the net.
The score would stay at 2-1 until the 71st minute, when Jenna Chatterton found Siefert for the tying goal. Two minutes later, Siefert struck again, putting the go-ahead goal into the net. Noblesville held on from there.
The victory keeps the Millers on top of the HCC standings at 4-0, and runs their overall record to 6-0. Noblesville plays another conference game on Saturday at 3A No. 20 Brownsburg.
Carmel, ranked No. 2 in 3A, cruised past Warren Central 9-0 in a Wednesday Metropolitan Conference game.
The Greyhounds led 5-0 at halftime. Susie Soderstrom, Emily Roper and Lauren Bailey all scored two Carmel goals, with Ava Cabellon, Claire Swigert and Lauren Rainbolt each getting one goal. Saliyah Brady made two assists, with Annika Nelson, Swigert, Olivia Johnson, Kathryn Hartung, Bailey and Rainbolt all getting one assist.
The ‘Hounds are 6-0 in the MIC and 12-0 overall. Carmel plays at Noblesville on Monday.
Fishers, ranked No. 12 in 3A, beat Brownsburg 4-2 in a Wednesday HCC game.
The win puts the Tigers at 1-1-1 in the conference and 3-2-1 overall. Fishers hosts Avon next Wednesday in another HCC contest.