By RICHIE HALL
Carmel girls soccer coach Frank Dixon has won many games and state championships, but there’s a goal he has outside of soccer.
“I always say I’m going to write a book, and the book’s going to be You Only Get So Many Chances,” he said after his Greyhounds team won another IHSAA state championship.
Carmel had many chances to score during its exciting and nerve-wracking battle with Homestead for the Class 3A girls state title Saturday night at IUPUI’s Carroll Stadium. In the end, the ‘Hounds made good on two of those chances, and that was enough for them to get past the Spartans 2-1 in overtime.
It’s the first state title for Carmel since 2011, and the school’s 10th IHSAA girls soccer state championship (Carmel won a pre-IHSAA title in 1988). It was also the first appearance at state for the Greyhounds since 2014, but they lost that game to Fishers 1-0. Thus, the ‘Hounds declared they had “unfinished business” to tend to, and they finished it Saturday night.
“It feels really good,” said Carmel junior Kelsie James, who scored both of her team’s goals. “Actually 30 years ago today, our assistant coach Julie Faas won her state championship here for Carmel, and so winning today means a lot to us.”
Carmel came out firing in the first few minutes of the game, making several shots on goal. But all of them were either saved or stopped by Homestead’s goalkeeper Samantha Castaneda. The ‘Hounds were trying to get a quick score to take control early, but Castaneda kept denying them.
“We wasted those four or five chances in the first half, in the first five minutes,” said Dixon. “I was like, ‘Oh, we’re in for a long night here. We can’t put a ball in the net.'”
Neither team scored in the first half, and that 0-0 tie continued into the first 10 minutes of the second half. But a pair of event transpired in the 51st minute that changed the game’s direction.
Castaneda was injured after she got tangled up with a Carmel player, which stopped the game for several minutes and forced her to come off the field for a couple minutes. Castaneda did return to the game, but was noticeably hurting for the remainder of the game.
Seconds later, Homestead’s Sophia White was called for a yellow card inside the goal box after sliding into Emma Antoine. That gave the ‘Hounds a penalty kick opportunity, and James wasted no time in nailing the ball into the upper 90. Finally, Carmel had a 1-0 lead.
“I just really think about the team during tournament time,” said James. “During tournament time I just go for it. I play my hardest the whole game and I don’t let down when I play for the team.”
But that advantage only lasted 10 minutes. The ‘Hounds were called for a foul in their goal box in the 61st minute. So Homestead got a PK opportunity, which was taken by leading scorer Morgan Halliwill. She promptly put her kick in, tying the game at 1-1.
Both teams continued to blast away in the ensuing minutes. Olivia Frey sent a big kick towards the net, but Castaneda deflected it away. Elyse Reed and James also had shots on goal.
Meanwhile, Homestead was starting to push, getting a spark from freshman sensation Amelia White, a Youth National Team player. White had her own shot on goal with 14 minutes left in the half, getting one off despite being played by four Carmel defenders.
After 80 minutes of soccer, the score was still 1-1, thus taking the game to overtime. Overtime consists of two seven-minute periods, but the Greyhounds only needed one to get their second goal.
Ashley Witucki sent a cross from the corner into the goal box. It slipped through Castaneda’s hands, and James put it in for the score with 2:35 remaining in the first OT. Carmel clamped down on defense for the rest of the first OT, then did the same for the second overtime to clinch the state title.
“She had a great game,” said Dixon of Witucki. “She had a really good game, causing them trouble up and down there. She almost never gets tired, but you could tell by the end of that game she was worn out. After we got the lead, I switched her into the center-mid and she was playing balls through there, too, so she had a great game.”
Carmel won the first two IHSAA titles in 1994-95, then its third in 1997. The ‘Hounds then ran off five in a row between 2000 and 2004. Carmel won the Class 2A state title in 2011, the first year of the two-class state tournament. By winning a 3A title, the Greyhounds are now the only team to have won girls soccer state championships in three different classes.
The Carmel girls soccer team won its first state championship since 2011 on Saturday, beating Homestead 2-1 in overtime for the Class 3A state title at IUPUI’s Carroll Stadium. The Greyhounds got two goals from Kelsie James, and that carried Carmel to its 10th IHSAA state girls soccer title. (Kirk Green)
Carmel’s Kelsie James (right) scored both of the Greyhounds’ goals in their state championship win over Homestead on Saturday. James, a junior, has already committed to play at Valparaiso University, along with teammate Cassidy Eckstein. (Kirk Green)