By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
INDIANAPOLIS – The mood was celebratory and the smiles were big, but the players on the Noblesville boys soccer team had to hustle off the field minutes after defending their Class 3A state championship by beating Columbus North 1-0 on Saturday.
They had another game to watch, after all. As the boys were leaving, the Noblesville girls soccer team was marching on to the field to play in the 3A girls state title game, against its old rival Carmel.
The Millers girls made it a sweep at IUPUI’s Michael Carroll Stadium, beating the Greyhounds 1-0. That gave Noblesville its third state title in four years, and it became the second school to have both its boys and girls team win state championships during the same season.
While the result was the same for both teams, the situations were a little different. The Millers girls had several players with experience, including Ohio State commit and Miss Soccer candidate Ava Bramblett, who scored the winning goal for Noblesville. The boys, meanwhile, had graduated several players for last year’s title-winning team.
“The fact that we had one returning starter and we still have another state championship under our belt is just phenomenal,” said Millers boys coach Ken Dollaske. “It’s an entire program, it’s an entire culture. Our JV programs, both JV Black and JV Gold, always have tremendous seasons. A lot of our starters last year were on the JV program and they saw the success that we had and they knew that they wanted that as well.”
Experienced goal
Ultimately, the goal-scorer for the Noblesville boys turned out to be a player with state championship experience. Senior Jake Johns put the ball in the net for the Millers during the game’s 17th minute, with senior Sam Divis providing the assist.
“It came to me, and then Jake was just screaming my name,” said Divis. “I looked over to him and he was under me. And I had full trust in Jake to finish that away and he did.”
Johns said scoring the goal was like something one dreams about when he was a little kid.
“Just scoring, and then running to the camera and stuff,” said Johns. He said that getting the goal was an “undescribable” relief, and since the Millers were now up 1-0, “we’ve still got the rest of the game left to push through.”
And Noblesville did push through the second half, even in the face of constant pressure by the Bull Dogs. Both teams had seven shots in the first half, but Columbus North outshot the Millers 8-4 in the second half. The Bull Dogs played to the end, getting one last chance with 30 seconds left, but Noblesville was able to hang on. Millers goalkeeper Cole Thompson collected five saves during the game.
“Honestly, we wanted to make sure that we just contained as much as possible, and defensively, just move our feet,” said Dollaske. “Don’t stay up. Don’t dive in. For that, we always want to be the first team to win those 50-50 aerial balls, and I think that we did that, which helps us relieve some of that pressure.”
Noblesville senior A.J. Tippner looks to get control of the ball. (Richie Hall)
Dream result
The girls state title game was nothing but pressure. The Millers’ offense kept firing throughout all 80 minutes, with 25 total shots in the game. Sophomore Meredith Tippner led with 11 shots; both she and Bramblett had three shots on goal.
The Millers were able to break through in the game’s 36th minute, when Bramblett kicked the ball in from a few yards out. Bramblett called winning the state championship the “dream result.”
“We’ve got three trophies at the end of our career, and it’s the greatest way it could’ve ended for the goal,” said Bramblett. “It doesn’t matter whoever scores. That’s all we need. I was just happy that I was able to put one home and help our team to a victory that we’ve all had the goal from day one to achieve.”
Bramblett had been dealing with injuries during the season, and had to come off the field briefly at times, but there was no way she was staying off the field in a state championship game.
“Her teammates mean that much to her,” said Millers coach Mike Brady, who also said that Bramblett wanted to do everything she could so her teammates “could feel that success that she felt her freshman year. And she was a big part of that freshman year championship,” which the Millers won in 2019.
Noblesville’s Marit McLaughlin (13) moves on to defense as Carmel’s Claire Swigart (3) takes the ball down the field. (Richie Hall)
“And she wanted everybody to have that feeling,” said Brady. “That’s just how unselfish she is.”
Noblesville took the 1-0 lead into halftime, but senior Meskerem James said “that means nothing” because there were still 40 minutes left to play. Indeed, Carmel continued to press the Millers all the way through the second half, but Noblesville was able to hang on. Bella Wyatt had three saves.
“Carmel is an amazing team,” said James. “They give us a battle every time we play them.” The two teams met in the regular season, with Noblesville winning 3-1.
“Each team just keeps getting better every year,” said James. “It’s tough to play against them. So we just play together and come out as a team.” James said the team left it all on the field – “Today was the last game, we just put everything on the field,” she said.
Noblesville finished its season with a 20-1 record.
The Greyhounds had six shots for the game, with Sophia Shepherd making three of those shots. Goalkeeper Aubree Empie had seven saves, and won the Mental Attitude Award at the conclusion of the meet.
“I practice and work hard every day, and the team also helps me workout every day. I try to keep a positive attitude, because mentally, that’s what helps us win games,” said Empie.
Carmel goalkeeper Aubree Empie received the Mental Attitude Award following the conclusion of the game. (Richie Hall)
The senior also reflected on how the team improved over the season.
“I don’t think really thought we were going to be here after our first game,” said Empie. “And I think we proved everyone wrong. We just worked our butts off. We played hard. We worked hard every practice, every game.”
Carmel finished its season 18-3-2.
“I thought it was one of the better games I’ve seen in a long, long time,” said Greyhounds coach Frank Dixon. “Our kids gave it everything, their kids gave it everything.”
Dixon said there were “a lot of good players on that field. It was pretty sensational.”
Immediately after the 3A girls game finished, the 1A girls game took place between Park Tudor and Fort Wayne Canterbury. The Panthers won 3-0. On Friday night, Park Tudor’s boys won that 1A game, beating Greenwood Christian Academy 9-0. As a result, the Panthers joined the Millers and Evansville Memorial as the only schools to have their boys and girls teams win state in the same season.