Prep roundup for Friday, Sept. 24

Sep. 24—Western's girls soccer team took down Class 2A No. 8-ranked Hamilton Heights in the Hoosier Conference tournament's semifinal round Thursday.

Tied 0-0 at the end of regulation, the game went straight to a penalty-kick shootout, which Western won 4-3. Liza Szerdy, Lucy Weigt, Maddy Parr and Abigail Fouts converted for the Panthers. Goalkeeper Kyndal Mellady came through with two saves in the shootout including one when Heights had a chance to make it 4-4.

"As good as the girls played in the first round against Tipton, the girls played even better [Thursday]," Western coach Sam Parr said. "The defensive midfield and defensive line played absolutely outstanding."

Sam Parr said Western applied pressure nearly throughout and kept Hamilton Heights' scoring opportunities to a minimum. Mellady had eight saves in regulation.

"Every time that Hamilton Heights was able to break through the back line, someone on the defense was able to break up the play or cut down the shooting angles to help Kyndal out," Sam Parr said.

The Panthers avenged a 3-1 loss to the Huskies last month.

Western (11-2-2) advances to face Class 2A No. 13 Lafayette Central Catholic in the championship at 11 a.m. Saturday at Northwestern.

TIPTON 3, NW 1

Meghan Moses scored two goals to lead the Blue Devils past the Tigers in the HC tournament's consolation round. Abigail Parker also scored for the Blue Devils.

BLACKFORD 8, EASTERN 0

Eastern dropped to 2-10 with the road loss. Comet keepers Elle Hamilton and Ruby Sheets combined for nine saves.

BOYS SOCCER

NW 9, MARION 1

Wesley Miller led the way as Class 2A No. 16-ranked Northwestern blasted visiting Marion 9-1. Miller scored four goals, all in the first half as the Tigers raced to a 6-0 halftime lead. Kai Jackson had three assists in the big half.

Also for the Tigers (11-2-1), Zach Van Osdell, Jace Jackson, Ale Andrade, Matty Polk and Quentin Yeakel scored one goal each. Yeakel had two assists and Andrade and Polk had one assist each.

"Overall I thought the guys played really well," NW coach Aaron Longgood said. "I'm really pleased with how our guys are sticking with our style. Marion came out and wanted to play a high line and try and catch us offside and the boys showed some discipline beating that. We kept the possession clean and moved the ball quick and we were able to jump up to a 6-0 lead.

"I think heading into our last week of regular season, we are in a great place as a team. The guys are truly taking a one game at a time approach and are always taking the current task at hand and performing. With McCutcheon and Logansport next week, we have two really good challenges to go out and compete and prove our style of play is working against some good opposition."

CARROLL 9, DELPHI 0

The Cougars hammered their Carroll County rivals to cap a perfect 6-0 run to the Hoosier Heartland Conference title.

Owen Duff and Noah Falkenberg led Carroll's attack with Duff scoring four goals and dishing one assist and Falkenberg recording one goal and four assists.

Also for Carroll (10-2-1 overall), Eli Falkenberg scored two goals, Toby Burns and Ethan Radcliff had one goal apiece, Aydrial Turner had two assists and Mason Salts had one assist.

EASTERN 6, SHERIDAN 1

Dillinger Porter scored all six of Eastern's goals as the Comets rolled past the visiting Blackhawks in an HHC match.

Elijah Shafer had two assists and Kyan Hannah, Phillip Beedham and Caiden Kendall each had one assist. In goal, Isaac Horner had 12 saves.

"It was a refreshing victory," Eastern coach Quinn Cloghessy said. "Sheridan is a resilient team — they only have 12 kids, but they all play with a ton of heart and they're well coached. The last few games that we've won, we've been one dimensional, but we moved the ball really well [Thursday], played a lot of good balls in the offensive half of the [middle] third, and then our defense played stellar and gave us the platform to attack."

Eastern (3-10 overall) improved to 3-2 in the HHC. The Comets face Tri-Central on Tuesday to close league play. The winner will take third place.

BOYS TENNIS

EASTERN 4, CARROLL 1

The Comets took care of business against the visiting Cougars to improve to 3-0 in the HHC with one match remaining.

No. 3 singles player Ian Haley led the dominant showing by pitching a 6-0, 6-0 shutout at No. 3 singles. Also for the Comets, Myer Miller was a 6-2, 6-1 winner at No. 1 singles, Zhayne Kelly was a 6-0, 6-2 winner at No. 2 singles and Joe White and Barak Price teamed for a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 2 doubles.

"Great win setting up a big match at Rossville [today] for a conference championship," Eastern coach Pat Rice said.

The Hornets also are 3-0 in the conference. The winner of today's match will take the conference title.

"We saw them at the individual tournament this past Saturday and they got us at some spots head to head so we will need to flip a few spots. But we are definitely confident and up for the challenge," Rice said.

Carroll's point came at No. 1 doubles where Ben Lawson and Sam Ellis prevailed.

PERU 5, WESTERN 0

Peru improved to 14-1 following the sweep of Western on the Panthers' courts.

Singles players Ian Potts, Ben Beckman and Gavin Eldridge won in straight sets. The Bengal Tigers' doubles teams of Lucas Slagel and Jackson Rogers at No. 1 and Jakob Gray and Ben Duckwall at No. 2 posted three-set wins.

Peru plays Marion and Kokomo on Saturday in Kokomo's invitational.

VOLLEYBALL

EASTERN 3, TAYLOR 0

The Comets breezed past the visiting Titans 3-0 (25-9, 25-12, 25-3) and moved to 6-0 in the HHC.

Emma Sandlin led Eastern (16-8 overall) with 21 service points (six aces) and 28 assists. Jenna Odle floored 16 kills, Trista Rice had seven kills and Kate Harrison had five kills. Harrison also had 15 points (five aces). Shelby Rice chipped in eight points.

"I am proud of the girls for playing consistent and cutting the unforced errors down," Eastern coach Missy Mavrick said.

Eastern has HHC matches remaining against Clinton Prairie (Tuesday) and Carroll (Oct. 7). The Comets are vying for their fourth straight conference title.

MAC 3, MANCHESTER 1

Maconaquah took control in the second set and went on to beat Manchester 3-1 (24-26, 25-13, 25-15, 25-21) in a Three Rivers Conference match. The Braves improved to 3-4 in the conference.

Taylor Roesler (21 kills) and Lilly Maple (18 kills) led Mac's attack with Averi Miller distributing 42 assists. The trio combined for 10 serving aces.

Defensively, Maple had 25 digs, Miller and Emma Landrum had 21 apiece and Roesler had 20.