By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
NOBLESVILLE – Since the 2011 girls soccer season, Homestead and Noblesville have met on the soccer field now eight different times and each time, that meeting has meant something down the road. After this particular battle, the Millers are now 6-1-1 against the Spartans.
Thursday night’s Class 3A regional semifinal matchup at Hallmark Orthodontic Soccer Complex in Noblesville was no different. A late momentum surge in the first half, along with a solid defensive effort helped the host and No. 1-ranked Millers to a 3-0 win over the visiting Homestead Spartans.
Homestead put defense at the forefront and it might have been too costly.
“This time of year, goals are tough to come by. I’ve watched Homestead play. We knew they would take a defensive posture against us, because they couldn’t play us straight up,” said Noblesville head coach Mike Brady on Homestead’s defensive game plan that kept the match scoreless for a majority of the first half.
The Spartans’ plan of a thick defense inside the 18 worked, to an extent. Noblesville found seams and was eventually able to penetrate further into the defensive front, setting up what proved to be a pivotal final five-plus minutes of the first half.
The Millers had a corner kick from the right side that was overshot, but not too far. Meredith Tippner jumped up and headed the ball to the right side in front of the goal. Marit McLaughlin took the header and sank it with her right foot into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute.
“All of our goals, as you heard Coach (Hetzel) say, were nice goals on our part and we were able to again,” stated Brady on his team’s goals and how opportunistic they were.
Just a couple of minutes later, Noblesville took advantage of another opportunity off of a corner kick, this time from the left side.
Lauren Adam tapped the corner kick attempt to Ava Bramblett. Then, with a couple dribbles around a defender, Bramblett lofted up a shot from 28 yards out, finding the back of the net in the 37th minute for a quick 2-0 Miller lead.
“We know how we want to play the game and we have some set pieces in place. You saw the one off of the corner kick and usually I drop my head and wonder why we worked on that and this time, Ava Bramblett. That’s why she’s the best player in the state and she buried that ball. There are few players that can strike a ball like that,” continued Brady on his senior leader in Bramblett.
Even with a 2-0 lead at halftime, no lead is safe, especially against an opponent like Homestead. But, this game’s momentum seemed much different than the past.
It didn’t take long in the second half for the proverbial “nail in the coffin” type of dagger that would solidify the win for Noblesville.
Bramblett had a short throw-in from the right side. Atley Pittman took the throw in and passed the ball to a wide open Meredith Tippner, who shifted to her left foot, hooking it just inside the right post and past Spartan goalkeeper Lillie Yohey. Tippner’s goal in the 46th minute made 3-0, but that would wind up the final.
The remaining 34 minutes saw Homestead trying to get itself back into the game, but Noblesville was not having that and did everything it could to keep the Spartans scoreless.
The more noticeable thing in this regional semifinal win is obviously the three goals scored, but that’s not what made the win complete.
Noblesville’s overall defensive effort didn’t go unnoticed, to say the least. Lauren Adam and Nadia Zaborowski were tremendous in keeping Homestead scoreless.
“Lauren on the left side and Nadia on the right. That’s the one thing we’re finding that teams can’t. You don’t find outside back play like that and we have two of the best outside backs, so it’s difficult for teams to defend that,” said Brady on the defensive combo of seniors Lauren Adam and Nadia Zaborowski.
The 17th-ranked Homestead Spartans end their season at 11-6-3.
Noblesville (17-1) advances to the regional championship on Saturday at Kokomo to face Fort Wayne Carroll (15-5-1) at 2 p.m. The winner of the Kokomo Regional will move on to play either Crown Point (16-4-1) or Penn (8-11-2) in the semi-state that will be played at Kokomo or Chesterton on Oct. 22.