NOBLESVILLE – Tuesday night’s top matchup with top-ranked Zionsville will be one that the Noblesville boys soccer team’s 16-member senior class will talk about for years.
It was exactly the physical contest that it was dubbed to be from the get-go, but it became another night at the Hallmark Orthodontics Soccer Complex where a 3A No. 1 team would take their first loss of the season. On this night, 3A No. 5 Noblesville took advantage every time it could, dominating Zionsville, 5-1.
“First off, on Senior Night, you never quite know what you’re going to get. You have guys that are starting, who sometimes don’t start, so they can get their name up in lights,” said Dollaske on his senior-laden lineup.
“Honestly, they were the ones who set the tone. And, because we knew it was going to be chippy, we were really preaching that the first five minutes, even though it was guys who aren’t always going to be in there and they responded,” continued Dollaske on the lineup that started and kept the Millers going throughout the match.
Senior Landon Huber scored the first Noblesville goal six minutes in when fellow senior Luke Odle passed to Huber off of a deflection in the box and Huber found the back of the net on the left side for an early 1-0 lead.
Not too long after, Zionsville took advantage and drew a hard foul in the box. Jackson Jelinek drilled a penalty kick for the Eagles for the equalizer, just 10 minutes into the match, knotting it at 1-1.
“Getting that PK for Zionsville, we thought that was a situation that takes the wind out of our sails and honestly, we came back stronger than ever with four unanswered,” stated Dollaske on his team’s response to Zionsville tying the game 1-1 with a penalty kick.
It didn’t take the Millers too long at all to grab the lead again. Sam Holland got past his defender just short of midfield and was able to speed past him for half of the field. Then, Holland booted the ball past the Eagles’ goalkeeper Angelo Badalow for a 2-1 edge.
Then, it was Noblesville taking advantage from a foul situation. Landon Huber was fouled in the box. Senior Owen Mejia took the PK and sailed it past Badalow, pushing the Miller lead to 3-1.
The final two Miller goals came in the 61st and 70th minutes, both from the right foot of senior Sam Divis. His first goal came on a free kick from 25-yards out, that he was selected to kick from Gavin Vogelgesong getting fouled. Divis punched that kick over a few defenders that made a small wall and it was now 4-1.
Divis got his second goal that iced the game for the Millers when he took a reflection off of a defender. That left him all alone to send a laser past Badalow for the final score of 5-1.
“Sam Divis has been one of our best players, but I think he had one of the best games he’s had all season.
“It’s been phenomenal watching these guys really come together. I know it’s a strange season. I haven’t been here for half of it being on paternity leave, but they coming together the past week and a half that I’ve been here, it’s been amazing,” said Dollaske on his team’s play of late, especially since his return to the sideline.
Before Tuesday, Zionsville came in undefeated and that came crashing down with a vengeance. The Eagles had only given up just five goals in their first eight contests to start the season 6-0-2. They yielded five against the Millers.
The Millers had only been scored on four times in eight outings, now that makes it five in nine. And, since their 1-0 loss at Westfield last week, Noblesville has outscored their three opponents 17-3.
The bigger focal point in this win over top-ranked Zionsville was the play of goalkeeper Noel Pena.
“He had lots of saves, which we need our goalkeeper to do, but I also have to preach about the defense in front of him,” stated Dollaske on his goalkeeper Pena and the top-notch defense around him.
“Most of Zionsville’s opportunities were shots from distance, so Noel was able to see them a little bit better. Everything that came his way, aside from the PK, he was right on top of it. He was not allowing rebounds, especially on those shots from distance, outside the 18. He protected his six well and his back three in front of him made sure he was not seeing shots from eight yards out,” said Dollaske, praising his senior goalkeeper and the tremendous play from the back line of the defense.
This turns out to be one of the toughest weeks of Noblesville’s schedule.
“I’ve been preaching that if we can make it through this week, this is probably one of the most challenging weeks that Noblesville soccer has ever had to face, where you’re facing three top 10 teams,” said Dollaske on the tough test ahead for his team later this week.
The Millers (6-1-2, 2-1-1 HCC) hit the road on Thursday to face HCC rivals in 3A No. 6 Hamilton Southeastern (8-1-3, 3-1-1 HCC). The Royals handed Westfield its first conference loss last night, 2-1.
Noblesville will continue its week on the road Saturday when they visit the 3A No. 8 Castle Knights (8- 2-2) at 1:30 p.m.
“The schedule that we put together this year, we got rid of some teams that weren’t going to be as competitive. We made sure we were putting every tough team on there, so by the time we go through the 16- game regular season, we’re ready for sectional,” stated Dollaske on this season’s schedule and the challenges it poses.
“Castle is a tough trip, but we want to make sure we’re playing the best teams in the state, so that we would be battle-tested by the time we got to sectional. It’s a tough week. We had to start strong, we did that. We’re one-for-one, now let’s see if we can go two-for-two,” continued Dollaske on the Millers’ tough, rigorous schedule that will prepare them for the state tournament in October.
