Three Hamilton County girls soccer teams won sectional championships on Saturday.
At Hamilton Southeastern, No. 2-ranked Noblesville beat the No. 3-ranked Royals to win Class 3A Sectional 8. It marked the third sectional title in four years for the Millers, and their first since 2017.
Noblesville dominated the first half. Jenna Chatterton scored the Millers’ first goal in the 19th minute. The lead held at 1-0 until the 3:03 mark, when Makenna Maloy’s goal put Noblesville up 2-0. But the Millers weren’t done yet: Elana Chatterton scored with 18.4 seconds left in the half, with Jenna Chatterton providing the assist.
After all that, Noblesville led 3-0 at halftime. The Royals came out aggressive in the beginning of the second half, but the Millers’ defense was able to hold them off. Southeastern got on the board with 8:43 left in the game; Ashley Wilson scored with Layla Brown making the assist. But Noblesville held on for the win, collecting the school’s 10th girls soccer sectional title.
The Millers advance to next Saturday’s Logansport regional, where they will play No. 15 Fort Wayne Carroll. Noblesville is 13-0-3, while Southeastern finished its season at 16-3.
Over at Carmel, the No. 1-ranked and defending 3A state champions beat Guerin Catholic 2-0 to win the Sectional 10 championship.
The Greyhounds scored both of their goals in the first half. Brooke Bailey got Carmel on the board in the sixth minute with Kelsie James making the assist.
“That sort of decided the game, I think,” said Greyhounds coach Frank Dixon. “We missed two or three other ones that were just there, and then all of a sudden, you get those chances and then you don’t get them anymore. We could’ve put the game away early, and all of a sudden it turned into ‘just hang on.’”
James then scored her own goal with 2:22 left in the half, off an assist from Cassidy Eckstein.
Erin Baker made three goalkeeper saves for Carmel, with Olivia Labus making five saves for the Golden Eagles. Guerin Catholic finished its season 8-7-2, but Greyhounds coach Frank Dixon noted that came against a tough schedule, having finished its season against top 10 teams Penn and South Bend St. Joseph.
“I knew that they would be better than their record would indicate,” said Dixon.
Carmel won its 16th sectional championship. This was the first time the ‘Hounds won back-to-back sectional titles since their 11-year streak of championships from 1994 to 2004.
The Greyhounds are now 15-0-3 and advance to the New Palestine regional, where they will play No. 8 Center Grove next Saturday.
Hamilton Heights won its first sectional championship since 2014, beating Yorktown 1-0 to claim the Class 2A Sectional 24 trophy at New Castle.
It was battle of ranked teams, with the Huskies rated No. 18 and the Tigers No. 20. As such, it was a close game the entire way, with the first half ending in a 0-0 tie. Heights began to work more balls across the middle in the second half, and finally broke through in the 58th minute when Emily Stirn sent a ball into the 18. Kyndall Ferguson won it and put it into the net.
This marks the 10th sectional championship for Heights, which is 13-2-4 for the season and will play No. 9 Bishop Dwenger next Saturday at the Northwestern regional.
The Noblesville girls soccer team won the Sectional 8 championship on Saturday, beating Hamilton Southeastern 3-1. It’s the third sectional title in four years for the Millers, who play Fort Wayne Carroll next weekend at the Logansport regional. (Kirk Green)
The Carmel girls soccer team won its own sectional on Saturday, beating Guerin Catholic 2-0. The Greyhounds defended their title and will play Center Grove at next weekend’s New Palestine regional. (Richie Hall)
The Hamilton Heights girls soccer team won the New Castle sectional on Saturday. The No. 18-ranked Huskies beat No. 20 Yorktown for their first sectional title since 2014, and will play Bishop Dwenger at next weekend’s Northwestern regional. (Photo provided)