By CRAIG ADKINS
The Hoosier Crossroads Conference tends to be the best conference in what seems to like most sports in the state of Indiana. When eight teams in this week’s Class 3A coaches poll reside in central Indiana, five of which are from the HCC, you know the bar is raised when it comes to girls soccer in this part of the state.
The 3A No. 6 Noblesville Miller girls soccer team kept their winning ways going on Saturday at the White River Soccer Complex with a 2-1, hard fought conference win over the 3A No. 10 Brownsburg Bulldogs. The Millers are now 3-0-2 in HCC play, with a Sept. 27 date with Hamilton Southeastern (which is 4-0 in the conference) the only league game remaining.
Head coach Mike Brady used a different starting lineup with a few key regulars dinged up with slight injuries.
“It’s a conference victory. You have to come out and battle every time. Brownsburg again certainly came to battle,” Brady said on the toughness of the HCC as a whole.
“We got that first one and they again score pretty soon thereafter, because we knew they wouldn’t let down,” said Brady of both teams netting goals fairly quick in the first half.
Freshman forward Jenna Chatterton put the first Miller goal past Bulldog keeper Frannie Brewer with 34:20 on the first half clock, not even six minutes into the contest. Carly Hudnall got the assist on the goal from sailing a beautiful corner kick, hooking it right to Chatterton.
Brownsburg’s only goal was also by a freshman. Taeyln Hendrickson put a ball past Miller keeper Amanda Carmosino as the ball bounced off of a Noblesville defender, allowing Hendrickson to boot it in with 28:38 left in the first half, tying the game 1-1.
“The difference in games this close are the efforts like you saw from Elizabeth (Vernier),” said Brady as he commended the effort of senior forward Elizabeth Vernier, who score what would wind up as the game-winning goal with 23:54 remaining in half number one for a 2-1 victory. Vernier kicked a rebound shot away from Brewer for the winner.
“Another player may have stopped and watched it; she went through, she got the goal and that’s the difference between a win and a tie today,” Brady said on Vernier’s alertness in scoring the Millers’ second and decisive goal.
The halftime and final scores would be 2-1, as the second half would be a back-and-forth, aggressive, knock-down battle.
The HCC win moves the Millers to 9-0-3 prior to heading to battle 3A No. 3 Carmel on the road on Monday, September 18. Noblesville continues one of the toughest schedules in the state with their final home game next Saturday, September 23 vs. current 3A No. 1 Penn at 1 p.m. This is a rematch of the 2016 semi-state Elite 8 match, in which Penn won 1-0.
