Tonight with a MIC championship on the line, the girls soccer team takes on rival Carmel. Last year these two teams met twice, and both times the Greyhounds managed to come up with the win – once in the regular season 1-0 and again in semi-state 3-0. 

In Head Coach Mike Bishop’s seven year career, his teams have never beaten Carmel nor won the MIC championship, Tonight, on senior night, the team has an opportunity to make history on the field, and that’s what’s keeping them motivated. 

“Beating Carmel would mean so much not only to us, but to all the former players of CG girls soccer since it hasn’t been done before. The feeling would be overwhelming,” senior Bri Poore said. “And of course it’s senior night, so to come out with a win would be surreal.”

While the seniors are excited to celebrate the past four years and reminisce about the moments they’ve shared with each other, they understand the seriousness of tonight and have been able to focus on what’s most important – winning. 

“This week and last we’ve been watching a lot of film, studying the rate of play, looking into Carmel’s stats for the season, and we’ve also talked a lot about the importance of mental toughness,” senior Kelti Wise said. “Coach has instilled that in us, and it’s something we’ve always worked to develop, but we know this week, it’s especially important.” 

“The most important key factors to beat Carmel include working as a team, playing our game, giving our all the entire 80 minutes and maintaining a positive mentality,” senior Jostin Reeves said. “We just need to support each other and pick each other up when we get down.” 

While these tactics are important, the team knows that Carmel is a talented, physical opponent. 

“Carmel is tall and aggressive, and they’re a good team man for man. They’re all business and I think their coach really prepares them well mentally,” Bishop said. “But with that being said, I think we’re smarter and more talented than we have been in the past. I can tell the girls are aware and hungry, so our chances are good this year.”

Even though Bishop feels the team’s chances are the best they’ve been in recent years to win, the team feels they may be overlooked by outsiders.

“We came up short last year, and everyone thinks we’re overrated. People don’t realize our potential, so we’ve really been motivated to prove everyone wrong this season,” Wise said. 

No matter the outcome of tonight’s game, the seniors know this will be their least time playing together in front of a home crowd.

“I’m really going to miss being a part of this program,” senior Alainna Frankel said. “It’s going to be weird not seeing everyone every day at practice and in the hallways. We spend so much time together. I’m going to miss my teammates and coaches because they’ve all helped me come so far as a player and they’ve done so much for me.”