CARMEL – The Carmel Greyhounds are playing defensive this postseason, and they’re doing it proudly.
The defending Class 3A state champion Carmel Greyhounds (11-4-5) entered the state tournament voted outside the top 20 rankings, and much like the name on the front of their jerseys, they’re carrying the insult close to the chest.
With 10 shutout wins to their credit prior to the regional title game at Brian Murray Memorial Stadium, the Greyhounds added an 11th on Saturday with a 1-0 rematch victory against No. 18 Brownsburg.
Much like they’ve done this season, all they needed was one goal.
“They say defense wins championships, offense wins games,” Carmel coach Shane Schmidt said. “We like defense.”
During the regular season Carmel allowed just eight goals in 14 games. In the state tournament, the number shrunk to one in five contests, while their goals scored rose from 17 to 31 overall (14 goals in five games).
Once again, all they needed was one goal – and some naysayers.
“Last year, at the start of the season, we weren’t ranked in the top 20, and this year, at the end of the season, we weren’t ranked in the top 20,” Schmidt said. “There’s a little chip that the boys are carrying right now. Their body of work didn’t at least get recognized.”
In a regional title game rematch with Brownsburg, the Greyhounds won didn’t match their 2-0 margin from 2025, but they kept the sheet clean for their fifth 1-0 win this season.
Carmel’s lone goal dropped into the net in the 13th minute in unorthodox fashion, as senior Angelo Doria lined up for a free kick from deep.
Positioned halfway between the penalty area and midfield, Doria lofted a high shot toward the goal. Physics took care of the rest.
“Honestly, I was just looking to put a ball into a dangerous spot. I was looking to give my team an opportunity to score, and I ended up getting one myself,” Doria said. “We practice those, not scoring them but putting them in and finishing them. I guess, I got just enough height on it.”
Doria’s shot curved above and beyond the reach of Brownsburg’s goalkeeper, putting the Greyhounds up 1-0.
“I wish I could say I drew it up, but it was just a ball that got served in. We talk about good services, and that was a good service in. When you get a good service, weird things can happen,” Schmidt said.
Even weirder were the statistics.
In the first half, Brownsburg out shot Carmel 12-3 with five shots on goal compared to two, but Greyhound senior goalkeeper Robert Morgan was a wall.
“That’s soccer. You can look statistically like the better team, but one goal makes or breaks you,” Brownsburg coach Sean McGrath said. “We’re unfortunate that we didn’t get a goal, but kudos to Carmel for finding a way, even if it was, you know, maybe not planned, but they found a way.”
Morgan tallied five saves in the first half and one in the second, netting his 35th career shutout and 13th this season.
“All of it doesn’t matter until we get that ring. That’s the only thing I’m focused on,” Morgan said. “For me, it’s always 0-0, although we’re up 1-0, if they get one, it’s because I made a mistake or something like that. I can’t be focused on our victories. I’m not the one that scored. I need to keep the ball out of the net. That’s my job.”
Morgan excelled at his craft, fending off repeated attacks by the Bulldogs (10-5-5), including a point-blank shot by senior Chrisley Beauvais with 1:13 remaining in the game, as Brownsburg applied relentless pressure.
The Bulldogs logged 15 attacks in the first half and 10 more in the second. Carmel had eight in the first half and 11 in the second, refusing to sink back and play prevent.
“We don’t like to park the bus and play all 11 on our half. We shouldn’t be a team that has to just defend the whole half. We can get forward as well,” Morgan said. “We defend well, and it gets the shutouts, but those guys up front deserve credit as well.”
In Carmel’s five postseason wins, it had knocked off No. 17 Noblesville and No. 11 North Central, and now No. 18 Brownsburg.
During their 2-1 sectional semifinal win against Noblesville, Carmel allowed its first goal since losing to North Central, 2-1, on Sept. 15. They avenged that loss 3-0.
“When we first got ranked at the start of sectional, coach told us we were 28th. That’s where they put us at. We all laughed because we know we’re better than that,” Doria said. “We’re not just going to say we’re better than that, we’re going to show them. I think, so far, five down, we’ve shown them.”
Their “prove it” playoff run clinched the program’s eighth regional title since 1997, second straight and third in six years.
“Coach always says it’s about micro wins, and they all accumulate up to a win, and I think this game was really the epiphany of that, especially in the second half,” Morgan said.
“At halftime that was one thing coach really emphasized a lot. He was like, there are 40 minutes left to play, and if they don’t score, their season is over, so we knew they were going to come at us hard.”
The Greyhounds are embracing each challenge with pride.
“It’s always the same thing. Everyone hates Carmel. Everyone wants to see Carmel fall. They want to beat Carmel. We’re everyone’s rival,” Morgan said. “It means a lot beating all these ranked teams and showing everyone that we’re not a team to be messed with.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'We like defense.' Carmel soccer proving it, winning regional crown by shutout