The REPORTER
Four Hamilton County soccer teams easily won semi-state games on Saturday, Oct. 25 to punch their tickets to this weekend’s IHSAA state finals.
The Class 3A girls state title game will be an all-county matchup. No. 1-ranked Hamilton Southeastern cruised past No. 8 Crown Point 5-1 to win the 3A north semi-state game at Chesterton. Meanwhile, No. 3-ranked Carmel defeated No. 6 Center Grove 5-2 to claim the 3A south semi-state game at Martinsville.
Carmel’s third-ranked boys reached the 3A state title game with a 5-0 win against No. 7 Bloomington South, also at Martinsville. In Class 2A, No. 2-ranked Guerin Catholic overwhelmed No. 4 Hanover Central 5-0 to win the 2A north game at Chesterton.
Ehret the Equalizer
The Carmel girls overcame an early goal from the Trojans, who scored during the third minute. The Hounds got the equalizer in the ninth minute. Elsie Flanders collected a throw-in ball down the center of the field and passed it to Emma Ehret in the right side of the box. Ehret got past one defender and made an easy five-foot kick to tie the game.
Lizzie Horoho scored the go-ahead goal in the 15th minute, lobbing the ball just past the goalkeeper’s reach from the right side. Horoho assisted Adalyn Cameron with a goal in the 29th minute; Cameron’s kick hit the crossbar, but crossed the goal line and gave Carmel a 3-1 lead.
The Greyhounds added two goals in the second half. Olivia Joyce booted in a long kick for Carmel’s fourth goal during the 54th minute, then Cameron passed to Ehret during the 68th minute, and Ehret blasted the ball into the net.
Center Grove scored a second goal during the 70th minute, with a header off a corner kick.
Four assists for Sloane May
The Royals had to wait to get their first goal, but Margaux Henning broke the ice by kicking in the first of four assists by Sloane May during the 32nd minute. Three minutes later, Kherington Patton booted in Southeastern’s second goal, with May again making the assist.
May assisted again five minutes into the second half, making a kick to Riley Boyd, who headed in the ball for the Royals’ third goal. Rebekah Tekrony added HSE’s fourth goal in the 51st minute off a pass from Blair Satterfield.
Crown Point scored its goal during the 58th minute off a corner kick. Addison McClain put in the Royals’ fifth goal in the 65th minute, off another May assist.
Bardos’ hat trick leads Carmel boys
The Greyhounds’ Evan Bardos scored the first of his three goals in the 11th minute, beginning the scoring for the Greyhounds. Carmel led 1-0 at halftime, but the floodgates opened during the final 30 minutes of the game.
Bardos scored again with a big kick in the 53rd minute, then Alex Rubins made a penalty kick in the 59th minute. Bardos scored his third goal off a corner kick with eight minutes to go, then Quinn Wu scored off a deflection a few seconds later.
Xander Dora made two assists, with Troy Enslin and Wu both making one.
Fast first goal from Zermeno
Guerin Catholic wasted no time getting on the board. Christian Zermeno weaved through several defenders and kicked in the Golden Eagles’ first goal just 40 seconds after the start.
Will Scheu scored GC’s second goal in about the same fashion during the 29th minute, blasting through three defenders before kicking the ball in. The 2-0 margin would be halftime lead.
Zermeno scored the Golden Eagles’ third goal, again getting through several defenders before making an easy kick in the goal box during the 47th minute. Scheu made a powerful kick from 20 yards for Guerin Catholic’s fourth goal in the 53rd minute. Brayden Lindley scored the fifth goal off an assist from Zermeno in the 59th minute.
State schedule
The Guerin Catholic boys will be the first team to play, taking on No. 11 Bishop Chatard in the 2A final, which is set for 6 p.m. Friday at IUPUI’s Michael Carroll Stadium.
Carmel’s boys play first on Saturday, facing off with No. 1 Harrison at 4 p.m. Saturday. Then, it’s the showdown between the HSE and Carmel girls, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
