By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – When the Hamilton Southeastern boys soccer team played at Harrison in the regular season, the game finished in a 1-1 tie.
The No. 2-ranked Royals faced the No. 4 Raiders again on Thursday, this team at Southeastern’s field. The two teams played to a 1-1 tie again, but this time it was the Class 3A regional semifinal, so the two teams went to penalty kicks to decide the winner.
Harrison wound up the winner, as it won the PK round 4-3 to advance to Saturday’s regional championship at Kokomo; the official score is 2-1. It was a tough ending for the Royals, who were edged out in the battle of unbeaten teams – Southeastern’s first undefeated regular season in school history.
“We knew it was going to be a heavyweight matchup,” said HSE coach Chris White. “We played at their place during the year, 1-1 tie, and we knew they’re a good team. No excuses. We were still pretty banged up and it looked like it. We struggled to get on the same page and play our style, and give credit to Harrison, their pressure. They work hard. They got some really talented kids. It’s a good team.”
Southeastern scored first, with Dillon O’Rourke finding the back of the net during the 14th minute. The Royals carried that 1-0 lead into halftime, but the Raiders answered with a goal less than four minutes into the second half; Ashton Avila made the tying score.
Both teams battled throughout the remainder of regulation and the two overtimes, but the score was still 1-1 after all that time, sending the game to PKs. The Royals got a big boost to begin the round, as goalkeeper Cam Joniec blocked Harrison’s first attempt. But the Raiders made their next four, and the Raiders’ goalkeeper blocked HSE’s final attempt.
Jack Anderson, Jean Oquendo and Bennett Young all made kicks for Southeastern. The Royals finished their season 13-1-5, also winning the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship and their first sectional title since 2018.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” said White. “Our three things we talked about from day one was, play together, play with some toughness and have some fun. Everything else will take care of itself. It’s been an extremely positive group that stayed together.”
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Carmel also had to take a tough loss in penalty kicks on Thursday, falling at Lawrence North by the official score of 3-2.
The Greyhounds jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half. Charles Pishkur scored Carmel’s first goal during the ninth minute, then Curtis Droste added another goal in the 27th minute. But the Wildcats scored two quick goals during the game’s last six minutes to send the game to overtime. Neither team scored in the extra period, so it went to PKs, where LN won 2-0.
The Hounds finished their season 7-8-3, but not before winning their fourth consecutive sectional championship.