The Carmel girls soccer team advanced to their own regional championship game on Thursday, beating Brownsburg 3-0 in the semi-final at Murray Stadium.
The Class 3A No. 4 Greyhounds scored their first goal in the game’s fourth minute. Olivia Joyce made a pass to Ava Cabellon, who went one-on-one with the Bulldogs’ goalkeeper and got the goal. Carmel added a second goal in the 22nd minute, when Cabellon sent a pass to Megan Hamm, who put the ball in the net.
The ‘Hounds added another goal in the second half. Emma Ehret scored in the 61st minute, off a long pass from Greta Heyl.
“All three goals started from defensive plays as the girls played stifling defense all night,” said Carmel coach Frank Dixon.
The Greyhounds are 16-2-2 and will take on Cathedral at 2 p.m. Saturday for the regional championship. The boys game will follow, and will also see Carmel play the Irish.
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Hamilton Heights, ranked No. 20 in 2A, fell in the regional semi-final to No. 7 Bellmont 3-0 Thursday at the Huskies’ field.
The Braves scored all three of their goals in the first half.
“Bellmont was the better team, the more aggressive team, and so the result favors them, but at the same time, I appreciate this team and what they accomplished in the face of expectations that were not very high for them,” said Heights coach Travis Kauffman.
The Huskies finished their season ranked 14-6-1. The team had graduated several seniors from last season, but still had another winning campaign, including a defense of its sectional championship.
Among the seniors graduating from this year’s team are Cassidy Felger, who Kauffman said is “really just the heart of this team on the field, but she’s simply about the greatest human being that I’ve ever coached. How she encourages her team, so she’s going to leave a hole.” Riley Landis is another graduating senior starter; Kauffman said she is “tremendous” on defense.
“We’ll miss their talent, certainly, but that leadership, they’ve helped create a legacy, a program that can do what we did this year,” said Kauffman.