Noblesville's Owen Mejia (left) prepares to kick the ball as Carmel's Babacar Diatta plays defense during the Greyhounds-Millers boys soccer game Thursday at Carmel's Brian Murray Stadium. The game, which was the season opener for both teams, ended in a 1-1 tie. (Richie Hall)
POSTED BY: RICHIE HALL AUGUST 23, 2019 from the Hamilton County Reporter
Due to earlier games getting rained out, the Carmel and Noblesville boys soccer teams wound up playing their season openers on Thursday – against each other.
The Class 3A No. 7 Greyhounds hosted the 3A No. 12 Millers at Brian Murray Stadium in front of a big crowd, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie. Carmel scored its goal in the first half, with Drew Finkam finding the back of the net off an assist by Jackson Monsey.
“It was a good game,” said Greyhounds coach Shane Schmidt. “I thought that we had a lot of positives for it being our first game and their first game as well. It’s always a heartbreaker either way. It’s exciting when you score that goal late on, and it’s a heartbreaker when you get scored on late on for a tie. But I thought our guys played well.”
Noblesville got the tying goal with 2:56 left in the second half when Jack Miller mad a long free kick.
“At the end, I think they had some resolve,” said Millers coach Ken Dollaske. “Considering that this was our first game of the season, this was Carmel, everybody was hyped up, everybody was just playing very tight. I think that was pretty evident in the first half that we just did not play the way that the Millers could play. Second half, after we had a chat at halftime, I think they came out with a little bit more composure. It definitely showed the last five, 10 minutes of the game. We were definitely pressing to get that tying goal.”
The junior varsity game also ended in a 1-1 tie.