The boys soccer Class 3A Sectional 8 championship at Hamilton Southeastern will be Round 2 of the Mudsock.
The host and No. 4-ranked Royals will play Fishers Saturday after both schools won semi-final games on Wednesday. The victories were as different as can be: Southeastern stunned No. 1-ranked Noblesville in overtime 1-0, while the Tigers cruised past Anderson 9-0.
The Royals had played the Millers just last week, with Noblesville winning 2-0 after scoring both goals in the second half. In the Wednesday game, neither team scored during regulation, sending the game into overtime. In IHSAA soccer, overtime consists of two seven-minute periods, with no “golden goal” – both periods must be played.
There was still no score after the first period, but the stalemate would be broken quickly in the second period. Southeastern’s Isa Sayeed got a steal, broke away and kicked the ball into the net from 12 yards out.
Sayeed figured that the game would come down to “one chance” and that whichever team scores “would have the momentum to win the game.”
“It’s a matter of going as hard as possible and trying to make up for how I played earlier in the game,” said Sayeed.
“He’s hurting a bit,” said White. “But big players step up in the right times and make it happen.”
Sayeed’s goal came 29 seconds into the second overtime period. The Royals were able to hang on from there, clearing out a couple of Noblesville shots during the last minute of the game.
“We knew that we could counter against their defense,” said HSE coach Chris White. “They were going to be giving possession up more than what we normally like to. But it needed to be a low-scoring game. If we give them space, they’re just too dangerous.”
Southeastern improved to 13-2-3 with the win. The Millers finished the season 15-1-1.
Fishers had the second semi-final game in hand early. Ian Bowron scored three goals in the first 10 minutes alone. The Tigers then added late goals from Moneeb Sayed-Elawad and Ethan Slabaugh to go up 5-0 by halftime.
Sayed-Elawad started the second half with his second goal of the game. Parker Lowell, Evan Myers and Christian Wayne also found the back of the net during that half.
“Guys played hard tonight, took care of business, did what we had to do,” said Fishers coach Phil Schmidt. “We wanted to score early, get a lot of guys in the game. We were able to do that.”
The Tigers are 9-6-1 for the season.
Meanwhile, action at Class 3A Sectional 10 at Carmel was just as dramatic, with both games needing more than regulation time to decide a winner.
The No. 9 Greyhounds played No. 15 Westfield in the second semi-final, and that one went to penalty kicks, where the Shamrocks prevailed 5-4. The two teams were tied at 2-2 after regulation, and neither team scored during the overtime.
Both teams scored once in the first half. Jackson Carl got the Greyhounds on the board with a penalty kick with 13:23 left, but Westfield’s Declan Wheeler tied it up just a few minutes later.
The second half followed roughly the same pattern. Dalton Grubbs got Carmel back in front early in the half; his score put the ‘Hounds up 2-1. The Shamrocks tied it up again in the game’s 70th minute, with Ben Wallace putting the equalizer in the net. That 2-2 score held through regulation and overtime, sending the game into PKs, where Westfield won.
The Shamrocks are 9-3-2 and will play No. 18 Pike in Saturday’s sectional championship. The Red Devils also needed overtime to win, beating No. 13 Zionsville 1-0 after scoring their goal with 1:37 left in the first extra period. Carmel finished its season 10-3-4.
Guerin Catholic, the No. 2-ranked team in 2A, also had to play extra time to earn its ticket into the championship game at 2A Sectional 26 at Cardinal Ritter.
The Golden Eagles took on Covenant Christian Wednesday in the semi-finals. Neither team scored in regulation or in the first overtime period. But Guerin Catholic finally broke through in the second period, and then poured it on, winning 3-0 – three goals in the second OT.
Michael Crandley scored the Golden Eagles’ first goal, then Joe Lafiosca scored the next two. Goalkeeper Alex Gardner got the shutout for Guerin, which improved to 11-1-2 with the victory.
The Golden Eagles will play the host Ritter on Saturday. The Raiders beat Brebeuf Jesuit 3-0 in the other semi-final.
Sheridan advanced to the championship game at Class 1A Sectional 39 at Anderson Prep Academy on Wednesday, cruising past Taylor 4-1.
Dylan Cuevas scored the Blackhawks’ first goal, then Austin Bond added the second goal, giving Sheridan a 2-0 halftime lead. Kyle Eden took over in the second half, scoring both of the Blackhawks’ goals. Eden also assisted on the two first-half goals.
Sheridan is 7-2-1 for the season and plays No. 15 Liberty Christian Saturday for the championship. The Lions beat Tri-Central 7-1 in the first semi-final.