By RICHIE HALL
The Noblesville girls soccer team is once again a regional champion
The Class 3A No. 2-ranked Millers took care of business at Kokomo last Saturday to claim the regional title, beating No. 8 Homestead 4-0. The regional victory is the fifth in the last six years for Noblesville and the 11th in program history.
The Millers led 1-0 at halftime, with Meredith Tippner scoring the goal. Noblesville ramped it up in the second half, starting with a Kaydence Fleck goal in the 52nd minute. Tippner then scored exactly one minute later, then got her third goal of the game in the 67th minute.
Delaney Stone made three assists, with Atley Pittman and Lily Ault both making one. Goalkeeper Bella Wyatt had eight saves and collected her 11th shutout of the season.
Noblesville is 17-0-2 for the season and returns to Kokomo this Saturday for the 3A north semi-state championship. The Millers take on No. 13 Penn at 6 p.m.
Noblesville advanced to the regional final with a 5-0 semifinal win over Harrison last Wednesday at Hallmark Orthodontics Soccer Complex.
The Millers got on the board relatively quickly: Tippner put in Noblesville’s first goal during the sixth minute. The Millers steadily added to their lead in the first half to go up 4-0 at halftime.
Sophie Hedges scored Noblesville’s second goal in the 14th minute, then Brooklyn Gibbons found the net in the 25th minute, with Tippner making the assist. Corynn Fleck scored in the 39th minute, then scored again during the second half off an assist by Katelyn Keenan.
“We knew what was on the line this evening and we knew we’d see a different Harrison team than we saw earlier,” said Millers coach Mike Brady. Noblesville played Harrison Sept. 14 and won that game 3-0.
“But we came out and played like we were capable of,” said Brady. “We still have things to work on and get better for Saturday. But I thought every player that got in the game put forth the effort and we made that step in the right direction this evening.”
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Third-ranked Carmel saw its season end at its own regional championship game last Saturday.
The Greyhounds took on No. 12 East Central, and the game was scoreless after regulation and overtime. That sent the contest to penalty kicks, where the Trojans won 5-4. East Central blocked one of Carmel’s kicks to get the victory.
“We didn’t give up at all,” said Greyhounds coach Frank Dixon. “We kept fighting and trying to get the goal. We didn’t want to go to PKs and I don’t think they really wanted to either. But that’s where we wound up and that’s how they decide these things.”
Tilly Kunkle, Ella Sarson, Olivia Cebalo and Isabella Cueto all made kicks for the Greyhounds, who finished their season 15-4-2. Dixon said as the season went along, “we just picked it up and got better and better and better. They were believing in themselves.”
Carmel won its regional semifinal game last Wednesday by beating Brownsburg 1-0 at the Bulldogs’ field.
Olivia Cebalo scored the Greyhounds goal with 12 minutes left in the first half. Vaughn Rohrbacher made the assist.