Carmel’s Adalyn Cameron has scored 40 goals for the Greyhounds this season. (Richie Hall/File photo)
By RICHIE HALL
Coach John Simmonds had already won three girls soccer state championships at Park Tudor by the time he came to Carmel to coach the Greyhounds.
While mentoring the Panthers, there was a policy he implemented: no senior captains. Instead, there was a senior leadership team.
Simmonds implemented that same policy at Carmel, one of the top soccer programs in Indiana for decades. In his first year as coach, Simmonds led the Hounds to the Class 3A state championship game, where Carmel plays Hamilton Southeastern at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at IU Indianapolis’ Michael Carroll Stadium.
“All of our seniors are in charge of being captains of the team,” said Simmonds. “It takes a special group to buy into that and they have bought into that and made us successful.”
The No. 3-ranked Greyhounds played No. 1 Southeastern on Aug. 16 in the first regular-season game for both teams. The Royals won 3-1 at Carmel’s Brian Murray Stadium.
“That first game wasn’t a true measure of who we are, because I don’t think we knew who we were and what we did have,” said Simmonds. “Through a lot of senior leadership, we have really developed into quite a team, showing a lot of consistency as of late.”
In fact, the Greyhounds have not lost since their opener, rolling to a 19-1-2 record. Carmel’s only non-victories were ties with Cathedral (0-0 on Aug. 30) and Zionsville (2-2 on Sept. 27).
The Hounds faced the No. 4 Eagles again on Oct. 8 in the first round of the Zionsville sectional, so there could be no tie. This time the result was a 1-0 Carmel victory. The Greyhounds fought their way to a sectional championship, beating No. 10 Cathedral 3-0 in the semifinals and No. 5 Westfield in a 2-1 overtime championship.
Carmel hosted both games of its regional, taking care of Avon 6-1 in the semis and defeating No. 18 East Central 2-0 in the championship. In the Martinsville semi-state, the Greyhounds beat No. 6 Center Grove 5-2, sending them back to the state finals for the first time since 2022.
“I know we’ve got the most challenging, most difficult strength of schedule in the state by far,” said Simmonds. “I think that’s going to be instrumental for us. We’ve been down, given away leads, had to change formations. So, I don’t think we’re going to have anything thrown at us that we haven’t experienced.”
This will be Carmel’s 17th appearance at state, the most of any team. The Greyhounds also have a state-leading 10 state championships, with their last one coming in 2018.
Carmel is led in scoring by Adalyn Cameron. The senior, who was named to the ECNL U17 All-America team, has been a powerhouse this season, scoring 40 goals, the second-most in Greyhounds girls soccer history.
“She’s so dangerous,” said Simmonds. “I think as the season’s gone on, if you look at the stats, she’s starting to realize she’s going to get double and tripled team.”
As a result, Simmonds said Cameron has begun to share the ball, and that has allowed other players to score during the tournament. Cameron has eight assists for the season.
“She’s just changed the way she played and she’s just as happy getting an assist as she is a goal,” said Simmonds.
Senior Emma Ehret is next in line with 10 goals and six assists. Junior Elsie Flanders is the assist leader with 10 and also has six goals for the year. Senior Kate Klinginsmith, a Ball State commit, has dished out seven assists, while Olivia Joyce, a Kansas commit, has four goals.
Freshman Gwyneth Provost has been better than solid as goalkeeper, with 40 saves, 16 shutouts and a 0.2625 goals against average.
“I think she was prepared for that based on her club experience, but also her national team ID camp that she’s gone through, forced her to mature very, very early,” said Simmonds. “She showed that. She’s averaging less than half a goal a game.”
