By Will Willems
Staff Intern
NOBLESVILLE
â??? The highly anticipated match up between No. 1 Carmel and No. 2 Noblesville
didnâ??t disappoint Aug. 26 in an energetic match that saw the host Millers post
a 1-0 upset in the nightcap of a boys-girls doubleheader at Hazel Dell Elementary School.
â??Itâ??s
still only the fourth game of the season,â? said Noblesville coach Mike Brady,
whose Millers moved to 4-0 on the season. â??Itâ??s always good to go out and beat Carmel, but itâ??s still
early and when we play them again in sectionals, they are going to come out
harder.â?
Carmel coach Frank Dixon agreed that
these two teams will meet again.
â??I think
we played pretty well, all things considered,â? said Dixon, whose Greyhounds dropped to 5-1. â??Itâ??s
always a huge grudge match. I told the kids that the last two years the winner
of this game has lost the rematch in sectionals, so hopefully that remains
true.â?
The early
moments of the match saw the two rivals feeling each other out while trying to
gain an advantage.
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In the 15th
minute, Noblesville broke through for the only goal when senior Margo McAuley
got loose in front. Carmel
defender Maddie Howe cleared the first shot off the line, but McAuley buried
the rebound in the center of the net.
â??The girls
just wanted it,â? Brady said. â??Carmel
is a good team â??? we knew they were going to come out tonight and play hard. But
[we] got after it for 80 minutes, and that is what you have to do to beat Carmel.â?
Physical,
back-and-forth play was the theme for the rest of the half, with each time not
really coming close to adding on to the score. In the second half, the heavens
opened up into a torrential downpour, making play a little sloppy.
Noblesvilleâ??s
Mary Krieger dominated the flow of play for the second half. She had numerous
close blasts that just went wide and required many good saves by Carmel goalkeeper Emma Gormley.
The best
chance in the Noblesville second half came when Ashley Auld got loose on a
brilliantly placed pass by Krieger. Auld beat two defenders and the goalkeeper,
but a sliding Jessica Rix saved a sure goal.
The final
20 minutes saw a lot of high intensity as Carmel
tried to get the equalizer.
Noblesville
goalkeeper Chey Arvin came up with many brilliant diving saves, but none was as
good as a diving grab of a shot by Carmelâ??s
Katelyn Strout from 20 yards away with 15 minutes remaining.
â??Their
keeper did a nice job,â? Dixon
said. â??We put some pressure on, and they just stopped it.â?
Brady said
he was really proud of his teamâ??s effort on defense.
â??Carmelâ??s explosive,â? he
said. â??They have a half-dozen players that can put the ball in the back of the
net. You just have to make sure youâ??re marking up, and tonight the girls
stepped up to their defensive responsibilities and did what they had to do.â?
So
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