The REPORTER
The Noblesville and Fishers boys soccer teams advanced to the Class 3A Sectional 8 championship at Hallmark Orthodontics Field by winning Wednesday semifinal matches.
The No. 1-ranked Millers took care of Pendleton Heights 7-0. Noblesville led 3-0 at halftime; Alex Pursch got the Millers on the board, then Brady Frayer put in two more scores.
Ashton Craig added Noblesville’s next two goals, assisted by Miles Tucker on the first score and by Sam Holland on the second. Ben Hewitt put in the Millers’ sixth goal, then Max Tucker completed the scoring in the 66th minute.
Noblesville is 13-0-5 for the season.
Overtime header
Next up was a dramatic second semifinal between the No. 6 Tigers and No. 17 Hamilton Southeastern. The score was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation and looked like it would go to penalty kicks, but Reid Spittler put in a header with 45 seconds left in overtime and sent Fishers to a 3-2 victory.
Spittler
“They had some opportunities late in regulation that could have settled it, so we were fortunate on a couple plays,” said Tigers coach Phil Schmidt. “We were playing our heart out and just running and chasing and trying to make things tough for them. They’re a really good team. Don’t let the record fool you. They played a tough schedule. That’s a really good team that’s really well-coached. So, we knew it was going to be really tough tonight and we’re fortunate to be the one that made one more play than they did.”
Neither team scored in the first half, but both sides more than made up for it in the second half. The Tigers’ Kyle Clayton blasted in a free kick from around 23 yards in the 49th minute for Fishers’ first goal. The Royals answered in the 57th minute when Blake Braden scored, and it was 1-1.
Ellis Shaner then stepped up for Fishers, putting in his first-every varsity goal in the 63rd minute. Clayton made the assist. But Southeastern got it back again, as Logan Puls made a header in the 72nd minute.
“We get scored on, it doesn’t matter,” said Clayton. “We just go out and fight, work our hardest and we work our way up like we did.”
With that, the game went to overtime, which consists of two seven-minute periods. The first overtime was scoreless, but Spittler saved the day for the Tigers with his last-minute goal.
“That was a great play there,” said Schmidt.
“We got the free kick, and coach was just like ‘Send everybody up,’” said Spittler. “And we were just hoping for a lucky bounce and it was going my way.”
Fishers is 11-2-4 for the season, while the Royals finish their season at 7-6-3.
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Second-ranked Carmel beat No. 5 and Sectional 10 host Zionsville 3-1 on Wednesday to advance to the sectional championship game.
The Greyhounds scored their first goal in the 27th minute. Hayden Warneke sent a corner kick to Ryan Barrett, who tapped it in to get Carmel on the board. That would be the only score of the first half.
Barrett struck again in the second half, putting another corner kick into the net with 10 minutes left in the game. Zionsville made a penalty kick in the 76th minute, but Johnny Gourley put the game away with a goal two minutes later.
The Greyhounds are 15-1-2 and play North Central Saturday afternoon in the championship game.
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Sectional 39 host Sheridan advanced to the championship game with a 3-2 win over Liberty Christian on Wednesday.
The Blackhawks scored all three of their goals in the first half. Evan Krupp got Sheridan’s first goal right away, scoring in the first minute and a half of the game. Carsen Aleman put in the Blackhawks’ second goal in the seventh minute, then Conner Stuart made a penalty kick in the 21st minute.
The Lions made a comeback in the second half, scoring in the 56th minute to get on the scoreboard. Liberty Christian then added a second goal in the 74th minute, but Sheridan held on to get the win.
The ‘Hawks are 5-8-2 and play No. 14-ranked Muncie Burris Saturday in the sectional title game.
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University, ranked No. 16, dropped a 3-0 sectional semifinal game to No. 9 Park Tudor on Wednesday.
The Trailblazers finished their season 6-6-2.