The Carmel boys soccer team won its first state championship since 2006, beating defending 3A state champion Harrison 3-1 Saturday, Nov. 1. (Julie Brown)
By RICHIE HALL
INDIANAPOLIS – The 2025 season for the Carmel boys soccer team was definitely a journey.
The Greyhounds were not ranked in the pre-season poll that came out a few days before the season began in August. Rather than get upset, Carmel just won games.
And the Greyhounds kept winning. They won in the regular season and they won in the post-season, including the biggest game of all Saturday, Nov. 1 at IU Indianapolis’ Michael A. Carroll Stadium.
Carmel won the Class 3A state championship that night, beating Harrison 3-1. The Greyhounds came into the game ranked No. 2 in the state and convincingly defeated the No. 5-ranked Raiders, who won last year’s 3A championship.
“It’s really hard to beat a team twice, especially a team like Harrison,” said Carmel senior Curtis Droste. The Hounds also won the regular-season contest over the Raiders, 1-0 on Sept. 30.
“They get all the credit,” said Droste. “Making it to two finals in a row, winning one of them is incredible.”
Droste scored the first Carmel goal during the game’s 12th minute. Owen Price sent a corner kick to the middle and Alex Rubin headed it to Droste, who kicked it into the net from just outside the goal box.
Droste said that team unity was “the biggest X factor” when it came to Carmel’s victory, “just coming together and wanting to win every single minute. Every single minute, we were battling, every second we were battling. All those first balls and all those second balls.”
Harrison’s Connor Lange tied the game in the 21st minute, off an assist by Franklin Caceres. It was the first goal the Greyhounds had given up since Sept. 23, a streak of nine straight shutouts.
The game was not tied for long, however. The Raiders were called for a penalty kick in the 25th minute, which Rubin easily sent into the net for the go-ahead goal.
Carmel’s third goal came in the 65th minute. Quinn Wu sent the ball from the middle to Troy Enslin on the right side. Enslin kicked it to Evan Bardos, who was in the goal box. Bardos emphatically kicked the ball in the net, giving him his seventh goal of the season.
All three of Carmel’s goal scorers at state are seniors.
“The leadership on our team, it just comes down to our three captains and all the seniors,” said Bardos. “We like to way lead the way for the future of our program. We want to leave a print on this program. It ends with our year and then it moves on through everyone who’s played with us, whether it’s juniors or sophomores.”
The Hounds outshot Harrison 15-9, with Wu leading that category by taking six shots, three on goal. Droste and Bardos both made three shots, followed by one each for Gavin Fleming, Price and Rubin – they’re all seniors, too.
Junior Gray Morgan made six saves for Carmel. The Hounds had eight corner kicks to Harrison’s two.
“Gray was fantastic,” said Greyhounds coach Shane Schmidt. “I couldn’t be more proud. He was awesome. He’s only a junior, so he gets to come back and be a part of it next year.”
The state victory was the second in history for the Greyhounds. Carmel won its other state title in 2006, when Shane Schmidt was still an assistant coach. Schmidt became the head coach for the Greyhounds the next year.
“I’m 17 and we have not won a state championship in 19 years,” said Droste. “That’s older than me. And he’s been the head coach for now 19 years, and to see him get his first one as a head coach, I’m not even going to lie. I think he wanted it more than anyone out there today.”
Schmidt was pumped up after the win, then gave credit to everyone else.
“They do all the work,” he said. “I can’t be more proud of my coaching staff, Felix [Yau] and Joel [Haynie] and Henry [Giesel] and Sam [Kramer] and all the boys. They deserve all the credit for this stuff, I just get to be a part of it.”
