The Carmel High School girls’ varsity soccer team finished No. 4 nationally for their 2018 season. The announcement was made by MaxPreps, the online high school sports leader and a CBSSports.com site. MaxPreps ranks over 16,000 girls’ varsity soccer teams each year.
“The MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard honors the very best high school teams in the nation,” stated Andy Beal, president and founder of MaxPreps. “To qualify, you must be highly ranked nationally by MaxPreps; and you must also win a state championship. Those are tough qualifications considering there are nearly 16,000 teams competing in high school varsity soccer. Congratulations to the Carmel Greyhounds on their amazing achievement. MaxPreps and the Army National Guard are honored to recognize you for your hard work and amazing work on the field. ”
Carmel finished their 20-1-2 season with a 2-1 win over Homestead in overtime to claim the school’s 10th IHSAA Class 3A Girls Soccer State Title, 15th overall. The Greyhounds finished the year at No. 1 in the entire state of Indiana and is one of 10 girls’ soccer teams being honored on the 14th annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its eighth year honoring soccer. The football team was previously honored in 2016.
In his 28th year as head coach, Coach Frank Dixon recorded his 11th state title this season and attributes it to his experienced seniors. “As with most successful interscholastic teams, senior leadership was the most important part of accomplishing our goals this year.”
Leading scorer, Kelsie James helped launch the Greyhounds ahead of the competition with 11 goals and 10 assists on the season. James had help from her team with 18 different players recording at least one goal and 19 players adding at least one assist. The defense was strong, only conceding five goals all season. Numerous individual accolades were awarded and many players have either signed a National Letter of Intent or verbally committed to play with collegiate teams.
When asked what it means to be honored by MaxPreps and the Army National Guard, Dixon stated, “It is a great honor to be selected as one of the best teams in the country. As a US Army veteran who served in Vietnam alongside Army National Guard troops, I am very appreciative of their sponsorship of the tour along with MaxPreps.”
Indiana Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Kimo Anderson presented Coach Dixon and the girls with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy on Wednesday evening prior to a boys’ basketball game. Along with the trophy, the team received a banner for their success.
“The Army National Guard embodies teamwork and a commitment to community and country. Just as your team joins together to defeat adversity and claim the victory, the Army National Guard stands in solidarity to protect our local communities and the United States of America as a whole,” said Captain Charlton Grant. “On behalf of the Army National Guard, I am honored to recognize this nationally ranked championship team for their dedication, perseverance and teamwork.”
MaxPreps Computer Rankings are used to determine team rank for the Tour of Champions. The system utilizes the huge number of game results stored in the MaxPreps database. Generally, the more a team wins the higher the ranking, but the system takes into account quality wins (against other highly ranked opponents), margin of victory, and strength of schedule. Playoff games are weighted 2.1 times a regular season game.
The Carmel girls soccer team was honored Wednesday as part of the MaxPreps Tour of Champions. The Greyhounds won the Class 3A state championship and finished fourth nationally in the MaxPreps rankings. (Photo provided)