Noblesville High School boys soccer team makes history

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Noblesville High School boys soccer team is likely still celebrating on Saturday night.

The No. 1 Millers (18-0-5) wrapped up the perfect season by beating No. 11 Cathedral (17-5-2) by the final of 2-0 in the IHSAA Class 3A State Championship Game.

Noblesville senior Ashton Craig got the scoring started in the ninth minute of the match by scoring the first goal. His teammate, Keller Willis, doubled the Millers’ lead in the 36th minute when he found the back of the net.

With the victory, the Millers joined the 1994-96 North Central Panthers as the only three-peat boys soccer winners in IHSAA state championship history.

“When we won our first, it was expected because we had a stacked team,” Noblesville head coach Ken Dollaske said in an IHSAA news release. “Last year, we flew under the radar a bit, but that wasn’t going to happen this year. We knew people would be gunning for us, but we’ve been in that situation before, so I think our experience won out.”

Noblesville goalkeeper Cole Thompson had a big-time performance on the big stage Saturday. He had seven saves in the victory.

“It was one of the best goalkeeping performances I’ve ever seen,” Dollaske said in the news release. “Cole is the MVP of our team, and I think he’s the player of the year in Indiana.”

Thompson was named the winner of the C. Eugene Cato Mental Attitude Award after the match.

According to the IHSAA, “the award is annually presented to a senior, who is nominated by his principal and coach, and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability during his four years of high school. The award is named in honor of C. Eugene Cato, who served the IHSAA as its fifth commissioner from 1983 to 1995. During his tenure, boys and girls soccer became the 19th and 20th sports to be sponsored by the IHSAA.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, a proud corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to the general scholarship fund at Noblesville High School in the name of Cole Thompson.”

“Thompson is good,” Cathedral head coach Joel Russell said in the news release. “He’s big, he’s athletic, and we knew he wouldn’t give us anything.”

It was Cathedral’s first appearance in the state finals since 2010, when the program finished as the runner-up.