Indiana Preps | On The Line — IHSAA Girls Soccer Postseason
There are no bad records to explain here. No uneven résumés. No “dangerous despite the losses” caveat.
Hamilton Southeastern is 20-0.
Homestead is 17-0.
Saturday at Kokomo, one of them is going home.
That is what makes this Class 3A regional championship different.
HSE enters as the defending state champion, the No. 1 team in Indiana and the No. 1 team in the latest MaxPreps national rankings. Homestead is No. 2 in Indiana and No. 2 nationally in those same ratings. Earlier this fall, United Soccer Coaches had both programs inside its national top 10 — HSE No. 1 and Homestead No. 7 in the September 29 poll.
The rankings are one thing. The way both teams arrived here is more interesting.
HSE has been overwhelming people. The Royals beat Pendleton Heights 9-0 in the sectional championship, then beat Harrison 8-0 Wednesday in the regional semifinal. They have now won eight straight matches without allowing a goal. On the season, HSE has scored 115 goals and allowed four.
Homestead has been dominant too — but Wednesday looked very different. The Spartans played Northrop to a scoreless draw through regulation and overtime before winning the penalty shootout 5-3. Rilyn Carroll converted the decisive fifth penalty to send Homestead through.
That contrast gives Saturday its tension. HSE has spent October making matches disappear early. Homestead just proved it can survive one that refused to open up.
HSE Has Faced the Heavier Schedule
If there is a résumé edge, it belongs to HSE.
The Royals have wins over Franklin Central, Mishawaka Marian, Penn, Noblesville, Westfield, Carmel, Zionsville, Guerin Catholic and Mt. Vernon. The Westfield and Carmel results matter most — HSE beat Westfield 2-0 on the road and Carmel 3-1. Those are two of the strongest teams in the state, and both gave the Royals the kind of high-level regular-season test that matters now.
The Royals did not just survive that schedule. They went 20-0 through it.
Homestead’s résumé is not light. The Spartans beat Crown Point, Valparaiso, Lawrence North, Warsaw, Fishers, Center Grove, Carroll and Mishawaka Marian during the regular season. They beat Center Grove 3-1 and Fishers 7-0 on the same day in September, then went to Carroll and won 5-0.
That is enough quality to remove any idea that Homestead has arrived unbeaten because of an easy road. HSE’s schedule has simply asked more questions. So far, the Royals have answered all of them.
The HSE Attack Has Been Relentless
Sydney May is at the center of it.
The junior forward leads HSE with 26 goals and 63 points. Skylar Mueller has added 21 goals and 53 points, while Rebekah Tekrony leads the Royals with 14 assists.
That is the first problem Homestead has to solve. HSE is not built around one scorer. Take away May and Mueller is there. Collapse centrally and Tekrony can create.
The Royals have scored at least eight goals in eight matches this season. They have also shown they can win when the game compresses — beating Noblesville 1-0 and Westfield 2-0. That combination is what separates them. They can bury a team. They can also manage a one-goal game.
Homestead Has Enough Offense to Make This Uncomfortable
The Spartans have their own senior-heavy attacking group.
Braylee Morris led Homestead’s reported statistics with 15 goals through the late-September update, while Channing Xayarath and Audrey Johnson had 13 each. Xayarath and Johnson also had 11 assists apiece, with Morris at 10.
That balance is important. Homestead does not need one player to carry the entire attack. And the Spartans have already shown they can score against good teams — seven against Fishers, three against Center Grove, five against Lawrence North, five against Carroll.
Saturday is a different challenge. HSE has allowed four goals all season. That is the matchup that probably decides this. Can Morris, Xayarath and Johnson create enough clean chances to make HSE defend under real pressure for extended stretches?
Most teams have not.
The Goalkeeper Battle Matters More Than Usual
HSE senior Hannah Dodge has been part of a defense that has made scoring feel almost theoretical. Her reported goals-against average is 0.269, and the Royals have conceded just four times through 20 matches.
Homestead senior Emma Kanalas has been excellent too. Her MaxPreps line showed a 0.592 goals-against average with 42 saves through 11 matches.
Wednesday added another layer. Homestead needed Kanalas and its entire defensive group to survive 110 scoreless minutes before penalties. That experience matters now. HSE has spent most of the tournament playing with control. Homestead just played with tension.
If Saturday becomes a one-goal game late, the Spartans will not be seeing that kind of pressure for the first time.
Homestead Has Already Shown It Can Survive Ugly
That may be the most useful thing the Northrop match gave Homestead.
The Spartans did not score. They did not play their best attacking game. They did not create separation. They still advanced.
There is value in that this time of year. HSE has outscored Mt. Vernon, Fishers, Pendleton Heights and Harrison by a combined 23-0 in tournament play. Homestead arrives knowing it can win a completely different kind of match.
That does not erase the statistical gap. It gives the Spartans a path. Keep the game tight. Make HSE play longer than it wants to. Turn possession into pressure. Force the defending champion into a match where one mistake matters.
The Defending Champion Gets Its Biggest Test
HSE finished 22-0-1 last season and beat Carmel 1-0 to win the first girls soccer state championship in program history. Then the Royals came back and started 20-0.
That is 42 straight matches without a loss across two seasons.
Saturday is not another regular-season validation point. It is elimination soccer.
Homestead is not trying to prove it belongs in the same conversation. The Spartans have already done that. They are undefeated. They have beaten ranked teams across the state. They are No. 2 behind HSE in the final statewide hierarchy. And now they get the matchup everyone else wanted to see later.
Instead, it comes in Kokomo. Before semi-state.
Thirty-seven combined wins. Zero combined losses. The defending champion on one side. The state’s other unbeaten heavyweight on the other.
Only one gets to keep playing.
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