When Guerin Catholic and Penn play for the Class 3A girls soccer state championship Friday night, it will be a meeting of two of the best defenses in the state.
The Golden Eagles have only given up three goals during the entire season. The Kingsmen have only allowed four. The teams will play each other for the 3A state title at 8 p.m. at Butler University’s Sellick Bowl.
This will be top-ranked Penn’s third straight appearance in a state title game. The Kingsmen won the 2A championship last year (when 2A was the highest class), and was runner-up to Brebeuf Jesuit in 2A in 2015. No. 4 Guerin Catholic is making its first appearance in a title game; the Golden Eagles reached state in 2010 (the last year for the one-class tournament), but lost in the semi-finals to Columbus North.
In a bit of irony, Guerin Catholic beat the No. 13 Bull Dogs 4-1 last Saturday to win the Lawrenceburg semi-state, which sent the Golden Eagles into the state title game. Guerin won its own sectional over Westfield 3-0 and No. 3 Carmel in a dramatic 4-2 penalty-kick game. At the Zionsville regional, GC took care of business over Plainfield 6-0 and No. 12 East Central 3-0.
Overall, Guerin Catholic is 16-1-1 for the season. Its only loss was to No. 2 Brebeuf Jesuit 1-0 on Aug. 26. The Golden Eagles then played No. 10 Zionsville to a scoreless tie on Sept. 25, their last regular season game.
Guerin’s offense is led by a senior and a freshman. The senior is Elle Vuotto, who has tallied the most goals for the Golden Eagles with 16. Quincy McMahon is the freshman, she leads in assists with 19. McMahon’s 11 goals give her 41 points for the year. (The point total is computed by multiplying the number of goals by two, then adding the assists.) Vuotto has one assist to give her 33 points. Another senior, Cassidy Lindley, has 10 goals and nine assists for 29 points.
Senior Claire Gavin has been the main goalkeeper for Guerin Catholic, and has 30 saves on the season.
The Golden Eagles will be taking on a Penn team which has not been beaten in almost two years. Since losing to Brebeuf 2-1 in the 2A state title game on Oct. 31, 2015, the Kingsmen have compiled a record of 44-0-2.
Penn finished last season 22-0-1, and have the same record going into the first ever 3A state championship game, with the tie coming to Carmel, 1-1 at the Zionsville Invitational on Sept. 2.. The Kingsmen had to get past No. 5 Noblesville to win the Kokomo semi-state, edging out the Millers in penalty kicks 5-4. Before that, Penn breezed through its own sectional with victories over South Bend Riley 9-0, South Bend Adams 6-0 and La Porte 7-0, the won the South Bend Adams regional by defeating Northridge 4-0 and No. 11 Munster 3-1.
The Kingsmen’s offense goes through senior Kristina Lynch. As a junior, Lynch was named the Gatorade Indiana Girls Soccer Player of the Year for the 2016-17 season after Penn’s state championship run. Lynch scored 38 goals and made 26 assists.
This year, Lynch has improved upon those numbers, with 44 goals and 17 assists for a total of 105 points. She has verbally committed to Florida State. There are other players on the team that can score, though: Juniors Brooke VanDyck and Maya Lacognato have 13 and 12 goals respectively.
Senior Mackenzie Wood is Penn’s main goalkeeper, and she has made 81 saves during the season.
GUERIN CATHOLIC FACTS
– The Golden Eagles are making their second appearance in the state finals and first since 2010. Team is seeking its first state title in girls soccer and school’s fifth overall.
– Last Guerin team to advance to the state finals was in 2010 and team fell to Columbus North in penalty kicks (4-2) in the state semi-finals.
– Golden Eagles returned seven starters from last season’s sectional championship team that finished 9-8-1.
– Finished second in the Circle City Conference race this year with a 3-1-0 record.
– A Class 2A school by enrollment, Guerin Catholic is one of two schools in girls soccer to voluntarily play in a higher classification (Brebeuf Jesuit also plays in 3A).
– Gavin has allowed only three goals in 18 matches and her 0.199 Goals Against Average ranks second in the state according to MaxPreps.com statistics. McMahon ranks 12th in the state with 19 assists.
– Head Coach Jonathan McClure is in the second year of his second stint leading the Golden Eagles and eighth overall as coach.
Soccer State Tournament History
IHSAA Membership: 2004-present
First Soccer State Tournament Appearance: 2006
State Finals Appearances (2) 2010, 2017 (3A)
Semi-State Champion (2) 2010, 2017 (3A)
Regional Champion (4) 2008, 2009, 2010, 2017 (3A)
Sectional Champion (5) 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016 (2A), 2017 (3A)
School’s IHSAA State Championship History (4)
Boys Basketball (2) 2012 (3A), 2015 (3A)
Boys Soccer (2) 2013 (A), 2014 (2A)
PENN FACTS
– Defending state champion Penn girls soccer team will compete in third consecutive state championship match and enters the final match as the top-ranked team for second consecutive year.
– Kingsmen making fifth appearance in the state finals and fourth trip to the state championship match overall.
– Team returned eight starters from last year’s championship team which finished 22-0-1.
– Penn has 19 shutouts in its 23 matches and has allowed only four goals all season.
– Penn’s 120 goals this season are just shy of last year’s team record of 123. The Kingsmen have also only allowed four goals all season.
– Penn captured its state-leading 11th sectional championship with a 7-0 victory over La Porte.
– Lynch ranks fourth in the state with 105 points (44 goals, 17 assists). Her 44 goals are also fourth most in the state and 17 assists rank tied for 16th. Junior teammate VanDyck’s 14 assists also rank among the state’s leaders. Wood has allowed only four goals this season in 23 matches and her 0.225 Goals Against Average ranks third in the state this season.
Soccer State Tournament History
IHSAA Membership: 1958-present
First Soccer State Tournament Appearance: 1994 (first year of tournament)
State Champion (1) 2016 (2A)
Runner-Up (2) 2007, 2015 (2A)
State Finals Appearances (5) 1996, 2007, 2015 (2A), 2016 (2A), 2017 (3A)
Semi-State Championships (5) 1996, 2007, 2015 (2A), 2016 (2A), 2017 (3A)
Regional Championships (10) 1996, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013 (2A), 2015 (2A), 2016 (2A), 2017 (3A)
Sectional Championships (16) 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 (2A), 2012 (2A), 2013 (2A), 2014 (2A), 2015 (2A), 2016 (2A), 2017 (3A)
School’s IHSAA State Championship History (20)
Baseball (4) 1994, 1998 (4A), 2001 (4A), 2015 (4A)
Girls Basketball (1) 2016 (4A)
Football (5) 1983 (4A), 1995 (5A), 1996 (5A), 1997 (5A), 2000 (5A)
Girls Golf (4) 1994, 2002, 2004, 2005
Boys Soccer (1) 1999
Girls Soccer (1) 2016 (2A)
Softball (1) 1999 (3A)
Volleyball (2) 2010 (4A), 2011 (4A)
Wrestling (1) 2015
The Guerin Catholic girls soccer team has only allowed three goals during the season on its way to Friday’s Class 3A state championship game at Butler University. The Golden Eagles will play Penn, a team that has given up just four goals this season. (Richie Hall/File photo)