By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
The Carmel girls soccer team will offer familiar faces and a slightly different schedule to its fans during the 2022 season.
The Greyhounds have several players returning from last year’s team, which finished 18-3-2 and was the state runner-up in Class 3A. Coach Frank Dixon said he really likes this team: “No superstars,” he said, but there are many talented and hard-working players on the roster.
Carmel will be a senior-heavy team this year, with 12 of them competing on the team. That includes two starters from the state championship game: Defender Annika Nelson and goalkeeper Aubree Empie, who had 41 saves and eight shutouts for the ‘Hounds last year, only giving up nine goals.
Other key seniors returning are two forwards, both of whom were among Carmel’s top scorers. Sophia Shepherd returns the most goals, having scored seven last year, while Claire Swigart added six goals last season. Bethany Ducat is also back at goalkeeper, she had 45 saves and allowed just three goals. Both Ducat and Empie had eight shutouts on the season. Other returning seniors include Ava Cabellon, Kathryn Hartung, Greta Heyl and Kendall Young.
The Greyhounds have a significant number of juniors on the team, totaling eight. Three of them started in the state title game. Forward Megan Hamm is one of them; she was another prolific scorer last year with six goals. Hamm joined midfielder Janie Bartling and defender Riley Wilpolt in the state starting lineup.
Also back for their junior seasons are Ava Albright, Emily Boyer, Olivia Gardner and Clare Simmonds. Two sophomores are returning, Olivia Cebalo and Camryn Love.
“We played a lot of lineups in this year’s preseason DeWayne Akin Showcase and I learned that even with two of the top goalkeepers in the state, we have some work to do on defense,” said Dixon. Several big defenders graduated from Carmel last year, including Tammy Smith (now at Wright State), Saliyah Brady (Howard University) and Luci Bair (Bellarmine), so “there are a few holes to fill in the defense,” said Dixon.
Another big graduate was Emily Roper, last season’s Hamilton County Player of the Year. Roper, now at Ball State, led the team in scoring with 19 goals. As a result, Dixon said “the offense will need some reworking, too.”
“The temptation is to try and improve everything all at once but we will resist that and try to be playing our best at tournament time in October,” said Dixon.
As for the schedule, the Greyhounds had to re-work theirs after the school left the Metropolitan Conference this past winter. But Dixon sees that as a positive, as Carmel will still be playing a few of the MIC teams, and have games against five Hoosier Crossroads Conference teams.
The new schools on the Greyhounds’ schedule include four that were ranked in the top 20 of the final 2021 Indiana Soccer Coaches Association’s Class 3A poll. Those schools are No. 9 South Bend St. Joseph, No. 11 Castle, No. 14 Chesterton and No. 15 Plainfield. Dixon said the team now plays 11 top-20 ranked teams, and will also pick up games against a top-five team from Kentucky and a top-10 team from Ohio.
“On paper this looks to be not only the most difficult schedule in Carmel Girls Soccer history but possibly the most difficult schedule ever played by a girls team in Indiana,” said Dixon. “As usual, the girls always enjoy a challenge and are very excited for the games to begin.”
The Greyhounds begin their season Saturday by playing a morning game at Hamilton Southeastern.