EVANSVILLE — Come on, White! 7 more, let’s go!
Those on Carmel’s bench implore the starters. It’s the start of the second half of overtime and seven minutes separate Carmel and Castle from a penalty shootout.
Carmel’s bench screams and shouts. “Man on!” “Look right.” Castle, quiet, with the occasional instruction spewing from coach Spenser Negley’s mouth.
A minute passes. Then another. And another. Four remain. Carmel coach Shane Schmidt sits on his stool as Castle junior star Lucas Jurado receives the ball at midfield. The forward turns and pushes the ball past the Carmel defender. There are 30 yards of free space ahead of him. And a trip to the state final.
Jurado takes off, every stride silencing the Carmel bench by the decimal. He scored 28 entering the game and one in regular time. Schmidt and the Greyhounds know “good things seem to happen” when No. 5 touches leather. He opens his body and fires a low shot toward the far right post. The ball hits off the woodwork. Junior Reid Ainscough taps it in with 3:54 left.
The Greyhounds allowed one goal all postseason. They allowed two during their Class 3A semistate matchup with the 19-win Knights. But as Schmidt said, they’ve “settled down” since an unsteady first half. A Mikey Kubek penalty with 13:50 left drew the game at 1-1 and kept alive a chance at a second straight state title game.
Everything you have, let’s go!
Carmel bench tries again, but “Let’s Go Castle” chants from the bleachers across the field prove too powerful. Kubek paces down the right wing a minute later. Carmel players hold their forearms on their foreheads to block the sun as it sets on their season. Kubek side nets. Those forearms now rest on top of their heads.
Kubek lightly hops and rapidly flings his arms down in frustration. The Greyhounds create another chance but to no avail. But little hope remains.
There’s 1:10 left.
Let’s go, White!
One last cry, but this one, fewer words than the previous two roars. Players on the field respond. A cross goes in. A Carmel forward makes contact toward goal. Castle saves. Those on the bench bend down in heartbreak. Those on the field do the same a minute later.
Castle, the quiet team, rushes the field with cheers. Carmel walks toward its bench with tears and few words. Schmidt gathers his team and breaks the silence.
“Fellas, words can’t describe how proud I am,” Schmidt says. “Be proud of what you did.”
The Greyhounds weren’t supposed to be here. They started the season with three wins in their first nine games. They only scored 15 goals in the regular season. They registered 15 during tournament play. Carmel defeated state title contenders Brownsburg at regionals despite being ranked 28th entering the postseason.
Kubek and fellow winger Jet Truitt led the pack, creating 19 of Carmel’s 30 goals this season. Schmidt’s wanted to attack down the flank against Castle. The field width was 68 yards, compared to the 79 at Carmel's Murray Stadium. Carmel couldn’t stretch the field how they wanted.
But no excuses. “They had to play on the same field, too,” Schmidt said.
Jurado commended his team for winning balls out of the air and not allowing plenty of “big chances” in behind. Carmel hit the post twice Saturday. Castle stuck to its defensive identity.
Despite the loss, Schmidt reminded Carmel of its own after the 2-1 loss. The “storybook ending” didn’t happen, he said.
But they battled. “Together" and “with class,” Schmidt says as warm hues take over the sky.
Before he slithers out of the huddle, Schmidt makes a promise.
“The sun will come up tomorrow,” he says.
Joshua Heron covers the Fever, college sports and enterprise stories for IndyStar. Follow him on Twitter at @JoshEHeron. Marc Ray is the high school soccer reporter at the IndyStar. He can be reached at marc.ray@indystar.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Boys soccer: Carmel won’t repeat. But it’s season is far from a failure