Wednesday’s Mudsock girls soccer game between Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern was played on the Tigers’ TCU Field – the football field – in anticipation of a big crowd.
There was indeed a big crowd, with hundreds of loud-cheering students from both schools, on hand to watch the game, which didn’t disappoint in terms of quality. The Royals, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, prevailed in the contest over 3A No. 15 Fishers 2-1 to win the Mudsock Trophy.
Southeastern scored its first goal in the first half. Tatum Coleman put a header into the net, with Norah Wans making the assist. That would be the only goal of the half, so the Royals were up 1-0 at the break.
The Tigers tied the game on a powerful kick by Sami Bird early in the second half. Later on in the half, Southeastern was given a penalty kick opportunity. Coleman stepped up and kicked the ball in to give the Royals the lead for good.
“We played fine soccer,” said HSE coach Greg Davidson. “We’ve really been building something special here. Kudos to Fishers for clawing back into the game and getting the tying goal. But, certainly proud of my team to not second guess and keep clawing, attacking and find the go-ahead goal themselves, and even a few more chances on top of that.”
Davidson put all 22 of his varsity players onto the field at some point during the game.
“We had a couple knocks there, lost a couple players in the first half, unfortunately, to some injuries, but that also just speaks to our team,” said Davidson. “They have a lot of experience and were able to just step in and do their role.”
The coach said Lauren Ellinger had a good game as well.
“She was just so fun to watch tonight, both offensive, defensively,” said Davidson. “Just super proud of her.”
The Royals’ Makenna Nickens and Fishers’ Maria Okuszki both had solid games as goalkeepers, with each one making several stops.
In addition to being a rivalry game, this was also a Hoosier Crossroads Conference contest. With the victory, Southeastern stayed unbeaten in the conference at 4-0. The Royals are 9-0-1 overall and play games on the road Saturday at 3A No. 18 Crown Point and Fort Wayne Carroll.
The Tigers are 1-3-1 in conference play and 3-4-2 overall. They travel to 3A No. 16 Plainfield on Saturday.
Noblesville, the No. 1-ranked team in 3A, also kept its HCC record perfect on Wednesday with a win over a county rival.
The Millers beat Westfield 4-0, scoring two goals in each half. Ava Bramblett got Noblesville’s first goal in the 29th minute, then Makenna Maloy put a Tori Goodwin corner kick into the net with less than two minutes to go before the break.
In the second half, Isabella Griffey got the Millers a 3-0 lead by scoring off Tori Goodwin’s entry pass. Meredith Tippner completed the scoring in the 56th minute, putting in Noblesville’s fourth goal. Bramblett had the assist.
The Millers are 3-0 in conference play and 7-0 overall, and travel to Harrison on Saturday. The Shamrocks are 1-2-1 in the HCC and 3-3-2 overall, and play another conference game next Wednesday (Sept. 15) at Hamilton Southeastern.
Sheridan got a nice win on Wednesday, beating Beech Grove 3-2 in an away game.
The Hornets scored the game’s first goal, but the Blackhawks tied the game with five minutes left before halftime when Emma Alexander made a penalty kick. Sheridan then dominated the second half, as the Blackhawks gained confidence and attacked and defended as a team.
Cecilia Timmeput scored the go-ahead goal with 20 minutes left off an assist by Mac Smith. Chaney Smith added the third goal with five minutes left. Hailey Godby made 10 saves, including a goal-line stop to preserve the win.
Sheridan is 3-3 and will host Hamilton Heights on Monday.