By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – A soccer team will never say “no” to an early lead, but playing with that lead can also be a big test.
The Fishers boys soccer team passed that test Tuesday night when it hosted Hamilton Southeastern in the Mudsock game. The Tigers scored during the 14th minute, then held on for the other 66 minutes to eventually claim a 1-0 victory, and thus retain the Mudsock trophy for another year.
The game was played on the Fishers football field, in front of over 1,000 fans. Both teams are ranked very high in the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association’s latest Class 3A poll, with the Tigers No. 6 and the Royals No. 4.
“I thought that was a really great game between two good high school teams battling the whole night,” said Fishers coach Phil Schmidt. “A lot of credit to the HSE boys, they played their hearts out. We were fortunate to get the one and then keep our net clean, so proud of the effort from both teams. I thought it was really well-coached and really well-played.”
Kyle Clayton scored the Tigers’ goal, off an assist by Noah Reinhart. Both teams had their chances, with each one making several shots in the second half.
“We’ve played some really good teams close,” said Schmidt. “Close loss last week, tied Noblesville, so we really needed a good win against a good team. I hope it propels us. This is the start of the second half of the season. And we talked about it propelling us tonight.”
“Fishers is a good team,” said HSE coach Chris White. “I think this game came down to toughness and discipline and they were tougher and more disciplined that us tonight.”
The Tigers are 2-1-2 in Hoosier Crossroads Conference play and 5-2-2 overall. Fishers’ next game is Saturday at Columbus East. The Royals are 2-1-1 in the conference and 6-1-2 overall, and host 2A No. 14 Guerin Catholic Thursday for their Senior Night game.
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In another all-county boys soccer game, 3A No. 18 Westfield beat 3A No. 3 Noblesville 1-0 on Tuesday.
Stats were not available. The Shamrocks are 2-0-2 in HCC play and 2-2-3 overall, and play next Tuesday at Hamilton Southeastern. The Millers are 1-1-1 in the conference and 3-1-2 overall, and travel to Southport on Thursday.
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Carmel’s boys, ranked No. 5 in 3A, sailed past Lawrence North 8-0 on Tuesday.
Will Latham and Colin Fettig both scored two goals, with Davis Dilling, Brody Harlan, Josiah Shepson and Hayden Warneke each getting one goal. Fettig made two assists, followed by one each for Dilling, Alex Kaczmarek, Barden Thomson, James Gilbert, Drew Thomson and Chris Gabriel. Adam Keleher and Jacob Havice combined for the goalkeeper shutout.
“Tonight we did a good job of switching the point of attack and finding the far runner with an angled ball,” said Greyhounds coach Shane Schmidt.
Carmel is 5-2-2 and plays Friday at 3A No. 7 Columbus North.
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The Carmel girls team also got an easy win over Lawrence North on Tuesday, beating the Wildcats 5-0.
Ava Cabellon scored the 3A No. 3 Greyhounds’ first goal, with Megan Hamm making the assist. Olivia Cebalo put in Carmel’s second goal, off a Sophie Shepherd assist. Cebalo has scored six goals this season. Greta Heyl scored on a free kick in the 34th minute, and Carmel had a 3-0 halftime lead.
Shepherd added the Greyhounds’ fourth goal, off an assist by Emma Barrett. Hamm finished the Carmel scoring by putting in a ball of a Camryn Love pass.
The Greyhounds are 7-1-1 and plays at 3A No. 12 Chesterton Saturday afternoon.
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The University boys team beat Bishop Chatard 2-1 in a Tuesday game.
Chris Millen and Remy Lance scored both of the 1A No. 3 Trailblazers’ goals. University is 5-2-1 and hosts Anderson Prep Academy on Thursday.
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Westfield’s girls dropped a 2-1 game to 2A No. 4 Bishop Chatard on Tuesday.
Ari Williams scored the 3A No. 17 Shamrocks’ goal. Westfield is 4-3-1 and travels to 3A No. 1 Noblesville tonight for an HCC game.