The Indiana high school girls soccer season is underway, and we've already seen some outstanding performances.
The Indiana high school girls soccer season is underway, and we've already seen some outstanding performances. This season will honor Central Indiana's top athletes with our Player of the Week polls.
Here are the top performers from the past week (Aug. 16-22). Cast your vote in the poll at the bottom of the article. Voting closes at noon, Friday.
Aryana Ali, Westfield
The senior defender finished with a goal and three assists last week, leading the Shamrocks to a 3-0 record. Westfield defeated Guerin Catholic 4-0, Fishers 2-1 and McCutcheon 6–0. Ali’s lone goal came against Fishers, a game in which coach Rachel Fulkerson said Ali “bolstered our defense against a tough Fishers team.”
Kari Radford, Lawrence North
The senior forward became Lawrence North’s all-time leading goal scorer with 48 career goals in a 4-1 upset victory over Brownsburg on Aug. 18. She surpassed Grace Moore (class of 2019), who scored 47 goals as a Wildcat. Radford scored two more goals Thursday in Lawrence North’s 4-2 loss at North Central. Radford added two assists in a 4-1 victory over New Palestine on Saturday.
“Kari is the type of player everyone wants on their team. Not just because of the player she is, but the person she is,” coach Jacob Miller said. “She’s pivotal to our success because she’s on the scoresheet. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a goal or assist; she does a lot for us in the attack and is crucial for organizing our defense from our forwards.”
Mia Marlin, Center Grove
The junior forward scored four goals and had two assists in three games. Marlin led the Trojans to a 3-0 record in Matchweek 1. Center Grove defeated East Central 4-1, Columbus North 4-0 and Bloomington South 2-0.
Alaina Newsom, Zionsville
The junior left back had three assists in Matchweek 1 and led the Eagles to a 2-0-1 record, including two clean sheets. Zionsville defeated North Central 2-1, Guerin Catholic 2-0, and drew 0-0 with Brebeuf.
Hannah Sund, New Palestine
The junior forward scored four goals in New Palestine’s season-opening 6-1 victory over Mooresville on Aug. 18. It was Sund’s first game back since undergoing ACL surgery.
Jada Smiley, Lawrence Central
Smiley had nine goals and three assists in three games. The senior striker led Lawrence Central to a 2-1 record and scored six goals in the Bears’ 9-0 victory over Shortridge on Tuesday. The Bears defeated Perry Meridian on Aug. 16 and suffered their only loss in a 2-1 defeat to Covenant Christian on Thursday.
Riley Boyd, Hamilton Southeastern
Boyd scored in all four of HSE’s wins last week. The senior forward helped the Royals score 24 goals with victories over Carmel (3-1), Crown Point (5-1), Franklin Central (9-0) and Penn (7-0).
Emma Gast, Heritage Christian
Gast scored three goals and had two assists for the week. Heritage Christian won its first two games of the season with a 1-0 victory over Roncalli and a 6-0 win against Hamilton Heights.
“Emma controls the midfield, … ” coach Reyna Eckel said. “She was also the main player this week who began promising attacks for us. She is constantly double-teamed, yet is able to distribute the ball to others to get in on goal as well as create shots for herself.”
Charlie Cheshire, North Central
The junior forward had three goals and an assist in two games last week. Although North Central lost its season opener to Zionsville 2-1, Cheshire scored a hat trick to lead the Panthers to a bounce-back 4-2 win over Lawrence North on Thursday. Cheshire totaled nearly 10 shots in her first two games, hitting the crossbar three times.
“Charlie is the engine behind North Central’s success,” coach Habib Diatta said.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school girls soccer players of the week for Matchweek 1
Category: General Sports
