By
Jessica Brooks
Staff
Writer
INDIANAPOLIS
– Evansville Memorial became the first high school in Indiana to win both the
boys and girls state soccer championships on the same day Nov. 1 after a 2-0
girls win and a sudden-death victory for the boys in beautiful 70-degree
weather at Kuntz Stadium.
Girls championship:
#5 Evansville Memorial 2, Fort Wayne Snider 0
In
the 15th Annual IHSAA Girls Soccer State championship match,
fifth-ranked Evansville Memorial (22-2) defeated Fort Wayne Snider (16-6-2) for
the second title in school history (1996) in the Tigers’ eighth finals appearance.
Senior
forward Susan Ellsperman took advantage of a midfield restart to score the
game's first goal at 23:38 on a header inside the six-yard box off an assist from
freshman defender Alex Kixmiller. The Tigers’ second goal came at 44:29, when
senior Brittany McCall scored her first goal of the season off of a loose ball
inside the box. Ellsperman, who finished the season with 22 goals and 24
assists, had the assist.
Coach
James LaBorde’s Snider squad struggled to get a shot off against Memorial’s
strong defense, with the Panthers attempting only five shots in the game
compared with 17 for Memorial. Sophomore goalie Sarah Stone, who played all but
three minutes of the game, had three saves to help lead the Tigers to victory.
Memorial,
coached by Angie Lensing, moved through its postseason opponents with ease,
scoring a total of 27 goals and denying any goals from their opponents. The
Tigers finished the season with an astounding 18 shutouts.
In
the morning semifinals, each game was decided by penalty kicks. After 94 scoreless
minutes, Evansville Memorial upset top-ranked Noblesville with a 4-2 advantage
on PKs. Snider, meanwhile, hit three of its kicks to zero 20th-ranked
Culver Academies in a 2-1 win.
Evansville
Memorial’s Ellsperman was named the winner of the IHSAA Mental Attitude Award.
Boys championship: #1
Evansville Memorial 3, #5 Zionsville 2 (PK, 5-4)
The
victory did not come as easily for Evansville Memorial in the 15th Annual IHSAA
Boys Soccer State championship match as the top-ranked Tigers survived a determined
No. 5 Zionsville squad in defending their state title.
Things
looked promising for the girls-boys sweep as Memorial (23-0-2) tallied the game’s
first two goals. The first came at 31:52 as sophomore forward Max Lachowecki scored
an unassisted goal, his 27th of the season. Just after halftime, the Tigers
scored again as junior forward Jeff Stapleton took advantage of junior Tyler
Vieth’s corner kick by volleying a shot off the near corner post from about 12
yards out.
Zionsville
(20-4-1), however, was quick to respond. The Eagles scored two minutes later to
cut the gap to 2-1 on junior Dylan Mares’ one-touch goal from just inside 20
yards. Zionsville, which outshot Memorial 10-3 in the second half, tied the
game at 72:55 when junior striker Harrison Petts scored his 40th
goal of the season by redirecting classmate A.J. Corrado’s pass off a Tiger
defender past the near post.
The
subsequent overtime proved scoreless, and the teams prepared for a sudden-death
shootout. The first PK round ended in a tie, so a second round ensued. The end
finally came when, after Memorial senior Travis Latta had scored the Tigers’
fifth point to the right side, Zionsville senior Alex Sanchez-Felix’s potential
tying effort missed just over the goal.
“It's
a great feeling to know that our school is more than athletics,” said Memorial senior
Trev Wilgus, the winner of the IHSAA Mental Attitude Award. Prior to receiving
his award, Wilgus showed his sportsmanship on the field when he helped an
injured Zionsville player stretch his leg during the game.
Coach
Bill Vieth’s Memorial team had advanced to the finals with a 1-0 semifinal shutout
of No. 2 Homestead, while coach Mike Smith’s Zionsville squad defeated Mishawaka
Marian 2-0.
