By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
KOKOMO – At this point in the state tournament, teams tend to take more time to feel each other out and figure out what they can do offensively. It took Noblesville a little longer to get settled in.
Once Noblesville figured it out, the flood gates opened and before Carroll knew it, the Millers had scored four goals in a seven-minute span to go up 4-0 halftime on their way to a 5-0 regional championship.
“At this time of the year, you expect it. We’ve been here before and we understand that when the whistle blows, everybody’s going to start throwing haymakers and then we realize that we are middleweights. Actually, we are heavyweights when it comes to it,” said Noblesville head coach Mike Brady on his team taking advantage of opportunities, like they did multiple times in the first half.
Ohio State commit Ava Bramblett gets credited for the first goal, which can technically be called an own goal in the 28th minute for a 1-0 lead.
A minute later, Meredith Tippner took a pass from Atley Pittman for a quick 2-0 Noblesville lead.
It didn’t take too much longer for Bramblett to find the net again. She took a deflection off of a Charger defender, sending a shot into the right side from 20 yards away to make it a third goal in four minutes for a comfortable 3-0 advantage with 8:22 left in the half.
The Millers notched their fourth of the first 40 minutes in the 35th minute. Lauren Adam passed to Meskerem James and then James fed a pass from left to right to Lily Ault. Then, with her right foot, Ault punched the ball to the right side inside the post that made it 4-0 with 5:40 in the half.
“We know teams are going to come out strong. We talked about it in the locker room before we left on the bus today. Then again, let’s get into our game early. Last game, I thought the same thing and it took us 20 minutes to get back to our identity and it was the same thing this afternoon,” stated Brady on the Millers’ slower start that wound up working to their advantage.
Noblesville began to spread out their defense in the second half.
“Once they got into it, they realized that we’re a better team and they can’t stop us if we play our game,” said Brady on the Millers’ change once they were able to get rolling with their style of play.
Obviously, there was a big sense of urgency from Carroll in the second half, but with the defense that Noblesville was playing, it would have taken an extreme amount of mistakes to allow the Chargers back into the match.
The final goal of the afternoon came in the 67th minute. Noblesville had a corner kick from the right. Sophomore Kaydence Fleck corralled the kick from the corner. She then got the ball to junior Stella Scroggin for a header that put the game completely out of reach for the final count of 5-0.
“Everybody played well and contributed. There are a lot of good soccer players in this program and just because you don’t get a lot of playing time in this program doesn’t mean you’re not good of the game,” stated Brady on the depth of his roster and the impact it has each game.
The second half was an opportunity for others on the Noblesville bench to get on the field and contribute, which will only pay dividends down the road, proving that their depth is one thing that separates them from many teams.
“Again, this is just a special group. Not only in the way they play, but their attitudes, what they mean to one another. It’s the culture that we’ve cultivated. You see that from us and hopefully you see that from the boys, because they do the same thing on their side,” said Brady, continuing to compliment his team and how they operate as people, not just soccer players.
In the end, Noblesville was just too much for Carroll and the Chargers just couldn’t keep up with the Millers in an 80-minute soccer game.
“It was demoralizing, but that’s what we want to instill in the team. We want to take away their hope as quickly as we can. We’re going to have to do that earlier next week, if we want to continue on the path we want to stay on for another two weeks,” continued Brady on the goal for his team to get at a team early to take away their hopes for a win.
The Carroll Chargers close their season with a record of 15-6-1
The Noblesville Millers (18-1) advance to the 3A north semi-state and will face the No. 12 Crown Point Bulldogs (17-4-1) at 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 22 at Kokomo’s Walter Cross Field.