INDIANAPOLIS - November 1, 2025

When it was over, long-time Carmel coach Shane Schmidt didn’t know how to react. The head coach of the Greyhounds since 2007, Schmidt took over the year after the program won its last state title.

When the clock at Carroll Stadium reached 0:00, Carmel finally had its second state title with a 3-1 win over defending Class 3A champion Harrison. “I didn't know what to think," Schmidt admitted. “I’m just so happy for what these boys did ... to go from unranked in the preseason to winning a state championship. It will take me a minute to process this. ”Carmel broke a 1-1 tie in the 26th minute when Alex Rubin scored on a penalty kick. From there, the Carmel defense and its superb goalkeeper, Gray Morgan, turned away every threat from the Raiders, who were denied a second-straight state title.

“Carmel is a heck of a team,” Harrison coach Bryan Clouse said. “We had a good tussle earlier with them, and we had to minimize mistakes. I don’t think we really got into a rhythm, offensively, until midway in the second half. That was too late. ”Carmel beat Harrison, 1-0, on Sept. 30, a game in which the Greyhounds began a streak of nine games coming into the title game without giving up a goal. Harrison (18-2-3) ended that streak in the 22nd minute when Connor Lange caught Morgan well out of his net and tapped in a kick that literally turned into a slow roll over the goal line.

That score tied the game, 1-1. Sometimes, a streak-ender can trigger a letdown, but not with this Carmel squad.“After that goal, I touched both the (goal) posts and got my head straight,” Morgan said. “It would have been nice to go through the tournament without giving up a goal, but going on to the next play was what was important. ”Besides, according to Schmidt, the shutout streak wasn’t even thought of. “We didn’t even talk about it,” Schmidt said. “I had no idea how long it was, I just knew we had gone a while without giving any up.

”More importantly, the Carmel defense went back to its dominating ways. Morgan stood tall in net and made six more saves the rest of the way.In the meantime, Rubin (who assisted on Carmel’s opening goal by Curtis Droste in the 13th minute) took a penalty kick after the Raiders were whistled for a foul in the box. He easily beat the Harrison keeper for what proved to be the game-winner. The score remained 2-1 until the 66th minute when Evan Bardos netted a shot after taking assists from Tony Enslin and Quinn Wu for an insurance tally.

Carmel (18-1-3) had previously finished as runner-up in 1997, 2005 and 2021.Harrison had previously taken the title in 2017 and finished as runner-up in 2015.

• 1st Team All-State - Quinn Wu, Gray Morgan, Xander Dora

• 2nd Team All-State - Saaketh Tadikonda

• 3rd Team All-State - Mikey Kubek

• Indiana High School Player of the Year - Quinn Wu

• Indiana High School Coach of the Year - Shane Schmidt