Carmel edges HSE in rollicking Friday game

The REPORTER

The Carmel boys lacrosse team had to fight to stay unbeaten against Indiana teams on Friday, May 1.

The Greyhounds played at Hamilton Southeastern and edged out the Royals 11-9. The game was back and forth for the first three quarters before Carmel used a fourth-quarter surge to pull away.

Southeastern led 2-1 after the first quarter, with Henry Wans and Sam Brandenburg each scoring a goal. Evan Bardwell got the Greyhounds on the board with 2:31 left.

Wans put in another goal during the first minute of the second period, after which Carmel ran off three straight goals for a 4-3 lead. Lincoln O’Leary, Max McCord and Eli Chapa all made goals.

Wans threw in his third goal with 38 seconds left in the half, but Ike Stitle answered right away, giving the Greyhounds a 5-4 halftime advantage.

Carmel coach Keith Allen said Southeastern was getting “the better of us” at the faceoff, “and that put us more into a defensive mode. They were being very deliberate offensively, two-, three-minute long possessions. We knew if we could weather that, we would be able to take our chances on offense.”

Southeastern took a 6-5 lead early in the third; Wans scored his fourth goal to tie the game and Kyle Jenkins scored the go-ahead goal.

Carmel pushed back with three consecutive goals for an 8-6 lead. Owen Huber, Evan Coulter and Stitle all scored. The Royals came right back, with two last-minute goals. Marcus Laux scored with 15 seconds and Jenkins put a goal in with two seconds to go.

With that, the score was tied at 8-8. The Greyhounds took over with three straight goals; McCord, Luke Shrift and EB Warren all scored. Jake Kuxhausen put in one last goal for the Royals.

“Got a lot to figure out,” said HSE coach Scott Beesley. “We got a lot of guys growing into their roles, a lot of sophomores playing big minutes, a lot of seniors switching positions to try to help the betterment of the team.” The coach said the Royals are “trying to figure out the right puzzle pieces and put them in the right space.”

Carmel beat Detroit Country Day on Saturday, May 2. Warren led the Hounds with five goals, followed by three for O’Leary and one each from McCord and Stitle.

Carmel is 13-1, their only loss is to Cincinnati St. Xavier. The Greyhounds have two games left on their regular-season schedule: a Friday, May 8 home date with Cathedral and a Wednesday, May 13 game at Culver Academies.

Southeastern is 9-7. The Royals play Wednesday at Westfield and host Zionsville on Friday.