By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – The Carmel and Noblesville boys soccer teams played to a 2-2 tie Thursday at the Greyhounds’ Murray Stadium.
It was an entertaining game between the top two teams in Class 3A. The Greyhounds are No. 1 and the Millers are No. 2.
The Millers were in control during the first half. Senior Sam Holland scored both of Noblesville’s goals during that time, connecting on the first one during the 25th minute, then making the second score in the 33rd minute.
“When he was on varsity as a sophomore, he was in his big brother’s shoes, even though his big brother’s smaller than he is,” said Noblesville coach Ken Dollaske. “He was learning, ‘What do I do when I do get playing time as that sophomore?’ Last year, he took on more of a leadership role, and this year, he’s one of our captains. I just think he knows, it’s going to be a lot on his shoulders in terms of the offensive load.”
Carmel’s comeback began in the 46th minute, when Hayden Warneke got the Greyhounds on the board. Carmel got an opportunity to tie the game with a penalty kick with 19:59 left, but Noblesville goalkeeper Cole Thompson blocked it away.
The ‘Hounds kept the pressure on, and broke through to score the tying goal with 1:29 left in the game. Dawson Droste put in the goal, with Ryan Barrett making the assist.
“We didn’t adjust tactically the way we needed to adjust in the first half, and at halftime we were able to talk about it,” said Carmel coach Shane Schmidt. The coach said he explained it all like a chess match, “and I said, ‘If we make these moves, they have to make these moves, which weakens what they were trying to do, and how we would move it around.’”
The Greyhounds are now 2-0-1 for the season and hosts Greenfield-Central on Tuesday. Noblesville is 1-0-1 and plays a Saturday morning game at Brebeuf Jesuit.