Soccer: University gets big win going into post-season

The University boys soccer team won the Pioneer Academic Athletic Conference championship game on Saturday. The host Trailblazers beat Park Tudor 1-0 in a game between two of Class 1A’s top teams. (Richie Hall)

The University boys soccer team hosted the Pioneer Academic Athletic Conference championship game Saturday morning – and won.

The Class 1A No. 3 Trailblazers beat their big rival, 1A No. 1 Park Tudor by the score of 1-0. The lone goal came in the game’s 54th minute, with Jake Malinzak finding the back of the net. It was the first time that University’s senior class had beaten the Panthers.

“Massive win for them,” said ‘Blazers coach Alex Baumgardt. “Not only just morale going into post-season, with it only being two-ish weeks away at this point, but really dealing with adversity. We knew Park Tudor was going to be the biggest test coming in.”

The Panthers had beaten University earlier in the season.

“Still lots of work to do, but at the same time, definitely proud of the boys,” said Baumgardt.

The Trailblazers are 8-2-2 and play at Hamilton Heights on Tuesday and at Beech Grove on Thursday.

***

Hamilton Heights’ boys team was also in action over the weekend. The Huskies hosted their own Husky Invitational on Saturday.

The Heights team reached the championship game by beating Tipton 7-0, then fell to Tippecanoe Valley in the final 6-3.

The Huskies are 8-5-1 this season, and host University on Tuesday and Western on Thursday.

***

Noblesville’s boys traveled to the Evansville area to play 3A No. 8 Castle on Saturday, and recovered after a tough start to win 4-2.

The 3A No. 5 Millers fell behind 2-0 after the first 20 minutes of play. Noblesville got on the board with 13 minutes left in the first half; Sam Divis broke the ice for the Millers with a goal from outside the box.

The score was 2-1 at halftime, but Noblesville took over in the second half. Owen Mejia tied the game by scoring off a corner kick from Noah Adams. Clay Janes put in the go-ahead goal, with Divis making the assist. With five minutes left, Divis got another assist, as he sent a ball to Miles Tucker, who scored. Goalkeeper Cole Thompson saved a penalty kick during the game’s final minute.

The Millers are 7-2-2 and host Plainfield on Thursday.

***

Noblesville’s girls, ranked No. 1 in 3A, picked up a 4-1 Hoosier Crossroads Conference victory at Brownsburg on Saturday.

The Millers got on the board in the second minute of the game. Meredith Tippner scored the goal off an assist by Ava Bramblett. That duo struck again in the 15th minute, as Bramblett assisted another Tippner goal to put Noblesville up 2-0.

The roles were reversed in the second half. Bramblett scored two goals for the Millers, in the 47th and 49th minutes, with Tippner assisting both times.

Noblesville is 5-1 in the conference and 10-1 overall. The Millers host Carmel on Monday.

***

The Carmel girls, ranked No. 3 in 3A, also got a Saturday win, beating 3A No. 4 Castle 3-0 at Murray Stadium.

Megan Hamm scored the Greyhounds’ first goal; Greta Heyl sent a ball to Sophie Shepherd, who sent it to Hamm for the score. Claire Swigart then put in Carmel’s next two goals. The first came in the 30th minute, when Camryn Love sent a cross to Hamm, who tapped it to Swigart in the back post for the goal. Hamm sent another ball to Swigart in the 59th minute, and she put it in again from the back post.

The Greyhounds are 10-1-1 and play at Noblesville on Monday.

***

Fishers’ girls took care of Harrison 4-0 in a Saturday home game.

The 3A No. 10 Tigers got goals from Anna Pettitt, Elise May and Mallory Slabaugh, there was also an “own goal” during the game. Lilly Touhy, May and Jaidin Milsaps all provided one assist each.

Fishers is 8-4-1 and play an HCC game Wednesday at Avon.

***

The Carmel boys team, ranked No. 2 in 3A, beat Homestead 4-0 in a Friday night game at Murray Stadium, for the Greyhounds’ Pack The House/Make Good Decisions game.

Will Lathan, Exode Minga, Braeden Thomson and Drew Thomson all scored goals for Carmel, with Hayden Warneke, Nick Basso and Colin Fettig all making assists. Adam Keleher and Jacob Havice combined for the goalkeeper shutout.

“An important message about the Indiana Lifelines Law and Make Good Decisions was conveyed to all those in attendance and everyone was able to enjoy a well played game by both teams,” said Carmel coach Shane Schmidt. “I thought we moved the ball well. I also thought we were able to get down the wings, in behind their defense, and create good scoring opportunities.”

The Greyhounds are 8-2-3 and play Thursday at Cathedral.

***

Westfield’s girls, ranked No. 17 in 3A, played to a 1-1 tie with 2A No. 3 Brebeuf Jesuit on Saturday.

Reese Sargent scored the Shamrocks’ goal seven minutes into the second half, with Elle Fischer making the assist.

Westfield is 5-4-3 and plays Monday at Pendleton Heights.

***

Guerin Catholic’s girls team, ranked No. 5 in 2A, played to a 0-0 tie with 2A No. 1 Evansville Memorial on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles are 5-4-2 and host Cathedral on Monday.

***

The Guerin Catholic boys dropped a 1-0 game to Center Grove on Saturday.

The 2A No. 19 Golden Eagles are 2-7-1 and play Friday at Carmel.