Senior Night games often bring out the best in teams, and that’s what happened with the Westfield girls soccer team on Thursday.
The Shamrocks hosted Class 3A No. 9 Guerin Catholic and put together a fine defensive effort, playing the Golden Eagles to a 0-0 tie. It’s the second game of a three-games-in-three-nights stretch for Westfield.
“I thought the girls played awesome,” said ‘Rocks coach Hannah Eggert. “It was an emotional night. It was Senior Night. Our backs did a great job holding them to no goals. Our keepers did a great job, lots of great saves. The crossbar saved us a couple of times. We are really happy with the result tonight.”
Westfield’s goalkeepers were Sydney Payne and Zoe McKinney, both juniors, and they led the defense well. The Shamrocks also had solid moments on offense, with junior Amiah Sprunger and freshman Talia Whitesel getting some great looks.
“But I think overall, it was a really great team effort with everybody working together, because this was our second game in a row and we have another one tomorrow,” said Eggert.
Guerin Catholic kept the pressure on the entire game and got several shots up, but wasn’t able to connect.
“We hit the post about six or seven times,” said GC coach Sean Yau. “You put one of those in, and that’s the difference in the game.”
The Golden Eagles also got solid efforts out of their goalkeepers, junior Bailey Cappella and senior Olivia Labus made some big saves as well. Labus, who has slowly built up her minutes after returning from an injury, had a couple key stops late in the game.
“It’s good to have Olivia back in the fold because she brings a different type of confidence in that back line with the girls on the field,” said Yau.
Yau credited Westfield’s defense with playing well, saying that the Shamrocks “did a good job staying organized in the back line, keeping our attackers in front of them.”
“Our attacks sometimes lacked the details in the final third to get that last moment to goal,” said Yau. “But I think overall, as a team, we did everything that we could have done, except for execute and put the ball in the back of the net. Defensively, we did really well building up into the attack. We did really well.”
Both teams are now 2-1-1 for the season. Westfield plays a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game tonight at Franklin Central; the contest begins at 6 p.m. The Golden Eagles are also in action tonight: They travel to Roncalli for a 7 p.m. Circle City Conference game.
The Hamilton Heights girls team, ranked No. 8 in 2A, pulled away from Kokomo in the second half for an 8-2 win on the road.
The Huskies led 3-1 at halftime, then the Wildkats were still within 4-2 early in the second half. But Heights turned on the pressure and controlled the game from that point on, scoring four unanswered goals.
Cassidy Felger, Kyndall Ferguson and Jenna Peterson all got two goals, while Jayla Logan and Sophie Martin both added one goal. Peterson, Martin, Ferguson, Keri Townsend and Emma Hall all had one assist.
The victory keeps the Huskies unbeaten for the season at 7-0-2. They will host Frankfort on Saturday.
The Carmel boys team, ranked No. 7 in 3A, cruised past Lawrence Central 10-0 in a Metropolitan Conference game Thursday at the Wildcats’ field.
Gui Basso scored three goals for the Greyhounds, while Medard Mikobi adding two goals. AJ Caito, Matthew Gretz, Connor Smith, Jackson Carl and Will Morgan each had one goal.
Ayinde Williams handed out two assists, with Mikobi, Smith, Dalton Grubbs and Jaxon Gillig each getting one assist.
Carmel is and will play at Columbus North tonight.
The Carmel girls team, ranked No. 2 in 3A, also picked up a MIC victory on Thursday, beating Lawrence Central 6-0 at Murray Stadium.
Emily Roper and Susie Soderstrom both scored two goals for the Greyhounds, with Saliyah Brady and Tamara Smith both getting one goal. Kendall Young, Roper, Luci Bair and Brooke Bailey each had one assist. Erin Baker got the shutout.
Carmel is 4-0 in the MIC and 10-0 overall. The ‘Hounds host another conference team, North Central, on Monday.
The Fishers boys team beat Pendleton Heights 5-0 on Thursday, getting the 250th win for Tigers head coach Phil Schmidt.
The Tigers are now 5-4-1 overall and play at Columbus East on Saturday.
Westfield goalkeeper Sydney Payne (00) makes a save. Also pictured are Paige O’Connell (18) and Lauren Soukop (39). (Kent Graham)