The Hamilton Southeastern girls soccer team had an outstanding performance at this weekend’s South Bend St. Joseph Invitational, going 3-0 against very tough competition.
The Class 3A No. 2 Royals started their run Friday night with a 2-0 win over Homestead, the defending state champion and No. 1-ranked team in 3A. Alya Conn scored Southeastern’s first goal just three minutes into the game, with Caroline Kelley making the assist. The Royals added another goal early in the second half; Cole Lance’s shot was handled in the goal box, giving HSE a penalty kick that Kelley put in. Hailey Wade got the Southeastern goalkeeper shutout.
The Royals began Saturday play with a 5-1 win over 3A No. 14 Penn. The score was tied 1-1 at halftime, but Southeastern took control by scoring four goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
Conn scored two goals, with Tatum Coleman, Norah Wans and Kelley each scoring one. Coleman dished out two assists, with Wans, Chloe Count and Lance all handing out one.
The Royals wrapped up the event with a 6-0 win over Warsaw. Kelley and Wans both scored two goals, while Count and Conn each added one goal. Coleman had three assists for the game, with Count and Mya Burow both getting one.
Southeastern coach Greg Davidson said that the Royals scored 13 goals for the tournament and only had one goal scored against them “against ranked opponents and storied programs. Congrats on a great start to the season,” he said.
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Meanwhile, Hamilton Southeastern’s boys team picked up a county rivalry win at Carmel, by the score of 2-1 at the 3A No. 3 Greyhounds’ Murray Stadium.
Carmel led 1-0 at halftime, with William Latham scoring the goal. A thunderstorm delayed the second half by an hour. The 3A No. 8 Royals broke through with 10 minutes left when Logan Puls scored from an assist by Grady Garrard. Then with two minutes left, Evan Shideler sent a free kick into the goal box. Rodrigo Silvestre Muniz won the ball and played it to Rex Randy, who scored to give Southeastern the win.
“It was a good game,” said HSE coach Chris White. “Both teams had times when they had the run of play and created several chances.”
“I thought we transitioned into our attack and possessed the ball well,” said Carmel coach Shane Schmidt. “We were unfortunate to not find the back of the net in the second half, hitting the post and crossbar. We will continue work hard on training and get guys healthy.”
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Carmel’s girls team also won an all-county game, beating Guerin Catholic 1-0 in a storm-shortened contest.
The Greyhounds scored their goal nearly 12 minutes into the first half, when Olivia Cebalo put in a cross from Sophie Shepherd. The game was halted about five minutes into the second half, and eventually called after over an hour due to lightning.
“The front line of Sophie Shepherd, Megan Hamm and Olivia Cebalo were the beneficiaries of great service from both the midfielders and the backs,” said Carmel coach Frank Dixon.
The Greyhounds are 3-1 and host their own Carmel Invitational next Saturday.
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Noblesville’s girls soccer team took care of 2A No. 9 West Lafayette 3-0 on Saturday.
The 3A No. 3 Millers scored twice in the eighth minute. Ava Bramblett put in the first goal, then assisted Meskerem James on the second goal. Bramblett also assisted Noblesville’s third goal, which was scored in the 50th minute by Lily Ault.
The Millers’ boys team hosted 3A No. 19 Plainfield on Saturday, but had to abandon the game due to the storms right before halftime. Noblesville, ranked No. 5 in 3A, was leading 1-0 with Jake Johns scoring the goal.
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Fishers’ boys team, ranked No. 1 in 3A, beat Harrison 5-1 on Saturday in its Senior Day game.
Noah Reinhart and Santi Morales both scored two goals for the Tigers, with Kyle Clayton adding one goal.
Thank you so much for covering Hamilton County soccer. Every year the boys and girls teams in Hamilton County are some of the best teams and have some of the best players in the state. It is nice to see them acknowledged. Keep up the great work!