By RICHARD TORRES
For The Reporter
FISHERS – The calendar read late August, but on Tuesday night at Fishers High School, it felt more like October.
Ranked No. 1 in the state, unbeaten Class 3A Fishers faced its first regular-season test against Hoosier Crossroads Conference rival 3A No. 2 Zionsville, and for 10 minutes, the Tigers passed before the Eagles rallied with three unanswered goals to ultimately flip the ISCA rankings.
A goal by senior Santiago Morales off an assist from junior Kyle Clayton put the host Tigers (2-1-1/1-1-1 HCC) ahead, 1-0, in the first half, but the Eagles’ (2-0-1/1-0 HCC) defense clamped down the remaining 70 minutes to avenge last year’s 1-0 HCC loss with a 3-1 victory.
“We created enough chances. We have some talented, attacking players. I thought they did a good job in transition, and it was kind of like they were running downhill and played a little bit more aggressive than we did,” Fishers boys soccer coach Phil Schmidt said. “Once we got down, I thought we showed a lot of fight and really put a lot of effort in, but they’re a good team, and we can’t give up three goals and think we’re going to win against a good team like that.”
The Tigers were the aggressor in the early portion of the first half and amassed 15 shot attempts overall. However, the Eagles countered at midfield and strung together multiple attacks to tie the game 1-1 in the 17th minute with a quick change of possession initiated by junior Blake Graves, who fed senior Jackson Jelinek for Zionsville’s first goal.
The Eagles seized the lead 2-1 in the 28th minute with an indirect-kick set play that momentarily caught the Tigers off guard.
AJ Jacklin orchestrated the scoring play with a slick pass to Gino Badalow, who found Luke Cero battling for position in front of the net and the Eagles’ second goal.
“Give Zionsville the credit. They played really well tonight and exploited some things that we have to get better at. As I told the guys at the end, the question is, how do we respond? Do we get better from it? We’ll go to the tape and learn from some mistakes, and if we can learn from the mistakes, then it’s something we can get better from,” Schmidt said.
In-game, the Tigers learned on the move, immediately responding with a shot on goal in the 31st minute by senior Noah Reinhart, which unfortunately drew crossbar.
The Tigers had recorded 13 goals prior to their third HHC contest and the Eagles’ defense paid close attention to their trio of attackers (Clayton, 6 goals; Morales, 4 goals; and Reinhart, 4 goals).
Fishers finished the night with 10 shots on goal compared to Zionsville’s 11. The Eagles posted more than 20 shots overall.
Fishers’ Kyle Clayton assisted on the Tigers’ goal during their game with Zionsville on Tuesday. (Reporter photo by JohnGeiger.com)
“I thought we did a good job, but they’re still extremely dangerous. There were some opportunities where we were a slide tackle away from them getting in. It was just one of those days where we had the effort and got on the end of the ball,” Zionsville head coach Rob Jordan said. “But this is a team that is going to beat a lot of people. I fully expect to see Fishers toward the end of the year. They’re going to do well. They’re an exciting team.”
Both teams ramped up the physicality in the final 40 minutes with three yellow cards issued to Zionsville and two for Fishers. The Eagles had four yellow cards in the match.
“We knew a 1-2 battle wasn’t going to be easy from start to finish. We started off the way we wanted to, got a nice little goal, but a couple defensive mistakes on our part and our offense should have done a little bit more,” Reinhart said. “It is frustrating, but that’s our fourth game of the season. We want to win games and get better as a team for sectional.”
Both programs reached their respective sectional finals in 2021, but the two teams lost to the eventual state finalists in champion Noblesville and runner-up Carmel.
With added motivation for this fall, the Eagles pushed their advantage to 3-1 over Fishers in the 45th minute off a goal from Ian Backhaus, while the defensive wall of William Sweeney, Badalow and Jacklin swarmed in front of goalkeeper Angelo Badalow, who had eight saves.
“In the grand scheme of things, we want to be the last team playing, but these are the type of games that get you prepared for that,” Jordan said. “They’re a great team, and we’re fortunate that we knocked our goals in. They had some chances, and they didn’t go in for them. It was a well-fought game. It was evenly played, and it could have been a game that went the other way as well.”
The Tigers pressured Badalow in net with a tip save off a hard shot on goal by Clayton in the 50th minute and a pair of shots that just sailed wide from sophomore Reid Spittler in the 56th and 67th minutes.
Fishers executed a perfect attack with quick passes from Reinhart to Clayton to Morales, who buried a would-be goal before it was waved off for offsides in the game’s final 3 minutes, 57 seconds.
“One shot hit the post when we were down 2-1. If that goes in, then it’s probably a dogfight until the end, but it didn’t. That’s soccer. Sometimes, it falls your way. Sometimes, it doesn’t, but I thought we created enough chances,” Schmidt said. “It’s the toughest conference in the state and we play a tough schedule. Over the next couple of weeks, we play nothing but really good teams the whole season, and that’s what you want. You want to play good teams and get better from it. Tonight, is a tough result because we hate to lose, but again, give Zionsville credit. I thought the guys can learn from this and get better for the next game.”
Their top ranking might vanish when next week’s ISCA 3A poll is released, but where they fall in the rankings has no bearing on the task ahead.
“Personally, for me, and I’ve been harping at our team, sectional is the goal. Sectional is the first step and then further on from there,” Reinhart said. “That’s what our whole season is building on.
“That was a very good defense and that’s something that we’re going to have to adapt to as a team. It’s not going to be easy to score on that team, so we have to keep fighting and keep working to find different ways to score.”
In last year’s sectional final, the Tigers lost to Noblesville, 1-0, behind a late goal scored. After facing their first deficit of the season against Zionsville, they’re aiming to adjust to any situation for victory come October.
“Rankings are fun, but I don’t care about them,” Schmidt said. “That’s somewhat new for Fishers to have that target on your back, and I tell the guys, I literally don’t care about the rankings. I’m a pollster and I vote, and I respect it, but in the end, the rankings don’t take the field. The teams do. Having that target on your back you know you’re going to get every team’s best effort, and now, we’ve got to rebound from this.”