Oringinally posted in the IndyStar by Matthew VanTryon on September 17th at 4:24PM
High school athletes are as competitive as they come. So, when two teams that play the same sport at the same school are undefeated and ranked No. 1? Neither team wants to be the first to lose.
That’s exactly the situation the Noblesville boys and girls soccer teams find themselves in. One team is chasing redemption. Another is chasing a repeat.
“They don't want to lose their No. 1 spot. You don't want to be the one to lose,” said Sara Kile, a Noblesville senior. “I think we play off each other. As a goalkeeper, I train with the boys pretty much every day. Seeing how hard they're working just makes me want to work harder. And I think we both want to do well for each other because we have such a community aspect at Noblesville and we just want to do well for each other.”
The girls team is coming off the program’s first state title and didn’t lose a game last season. The Millers overcame a two-goal deficit Wednesday to beat Zionsville and improve to 6-0. The boys team made it to semi-state last season before falling to Lake Central. The team has won its first eight games this year.
Last season's team was led by mostly sophomores and juniors who came into this season with unfinished business. They’re doing things intentionally, on and off the field, in a season where nothing is a given.
Before the first Noblesville football game of the season, Millers boys coach Ken Dollaske asked his team who was going to the game.
“There was just this resounding, ‘No,’ from every single player,” Dollaske said. “‘Coach, we came to an agreement that we don't want to put ourselves in any compromising situations because we think that we have something special.’ It's like, ‘Wow, I didn't even need to tell you guys that. I didn't need to put a quarantine on you guys to make sure that we're keeping safe.’ They kind of did that on their own.
"As a 15, 16, 17-year-old boy to be that mature to make that decision, I think that really stems from the fact that they know that we have something special going on here.”
That doesn’t mean making those sacrifices is easy. But the team has decided it’s an important aspect of achieving its goal.
“If you want to call it like a little bubble, we only go to school, soccer and then hang out with the soccer team,” Noblesville goalkeeper Gabe Ingle said. “... We are all extremely dedicated because we know that any game could be our last.”
That dedication has carried over to the field. Through eight matches, the Millers are averaging 3.6 goals per game and have allowed just four goals to opponents. Palmer Ault has a team-high 10 goals while senior Drew Barnes has scored seven. Ingle has 40 saves.
“We just use not making it to the state finals as motivation every single day, in practice and in games. That just keeps us going,” Barnes said. “Because that's the goal this year. Especially since we got cut short last year, we really feel like this year, we can do it.”
The girls team has its focus on winning another title. But the wealth of talent in their own backyard means that could be a difficult feat. They will likely have to go through Hamilton Southeastern, ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, to get out of their sectional.
Banners hang forever, but last season’s success has no bearing on what happens come October.
“Every single game we’ve got to go out there and compete like our accomplishments last year don't really mean much,” Kile said. “Our ranking is not going to get us a win. It doesn't really mean anything.”
The girls haven’t lost a game in 714 days and counting. But 18th-year Millers coach Mike Brady knows that’s not normal.
“When you've done it for a while, you establish a culture in which the players understand that success is there for them if they work hard enough,” Brady said. “Every game again is a battle and we know that every team is bringing their best when they play Noblesville. But we don't expect to win every game. We take every opponent seriously. But at the same time, we're confident that if we play our game and play it well, we're a very difficult team to beat.
"I don't think we'll go undefeated for years and years. It doesn't take much for the outcomes to switch one way or the other. So we just have to be our best and continue to grow and become better.”
But regardless of how the rest of the season plays out, both teams have had enough success to generate interest during a season where football usually dominates.
“I think with that success, more people knew that we were able to compete with competition all around the state, and even maybe competition around the country if it ever got to that point,” said Millers senior Jenna Chatterton. “We had so much more support because people wanted to see those good games and us competing each and every day against teams like Carmel or HSE.”
Winning a state title never hurts.
“I think in previous years, we were always one of the teams that everyone was trying to compete with, but we were never one of the big names,” Kile said. “Winning a state championship puts us more in the mix and makes people more excited to come watch our games.”
One of the biggest impacts of the coronavirus on high school sports has been the limited number of fans that can attend games. Even with those limits, the community has made its presence felt.
“I think that if this was any other year and both our teams were No. 1, that our stands would be pretty darn packed,” Dollaske said. “Last year we started to see a shift, where our student body really started to embrace both the boys and the girls teams. And even in these times, I think you still see those students showing up just because they realize how talented both the boys and girls sides are.”
Only one Indiana high school has won girls and boys soccer state titles in the same season (Evansville Memorial, which has done it twice – 2008, 2017).
The boys are quick to notice the state championship banner hanging in the weight room at school. And if things go their way, they hope another banner will be up there soon. Maybe even two.
“Last year, we were so darn close,” Dollaske said. “... There's that motivational factor. We were so close to the mountaintop and now we want to make sure that both squads are there at the same time.”
