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October 31, 2013

State Finals Preview: Seven of Eight Soccer Teams New to State Finals
Seven teams that have never traveled this far in state tournament action including one school with both its boys and girls teams involved make up the field for Saturday’s 20th Annual IHSAA Boys & Girls Soccer State Finals.

For the second year, the state finals will be played at Michael A. Carroll Stadium on the IUPUI campus just west of downtown Indianapolis. The Class A girls state championship will begin the day at 10:30 am ET, followed by the Class A boys final at 1 pm, the 2A girls match at 3:30 pm and the 2A boys finale at 6 pm. All four matches will be streamed live at IHSAAtv.org.

Crown Point is the lone school in this year’s group to have made a previous appearance in the soccer state finals after the Bulldogs claimed the inaugural 2A championship two years ago. Every other team is making its very first trip to the state finals. In fact, the last time all four girls teams were making their first appearance at state was 1999. That’s also the last time a fresh crop of boys teams was involved.

Avon’s boys and girls teams, both ranked No. 2 in their respective polls, are in position to win their first state championships this weekend.

The Orioles become the sixth school to have both boys and girls teams advance to the state finals joining Evansville Memorial (1994, 2006, 2008) Carmel (1997), South Bend St. Joseph’s (2003), Lake Central (2005) and Indianapolis Cathedral (2010). Of that group, Memorial (2008), Carmel and South Bend St. Joseph’s advanced both teams to the final game with only Memorial able to win both titles on the same day.

The Class A girls championship features fifth-ranked West Lafayette (14-7) and No. 17 Gibson Southern (16-3-2).

During last Saturday’s semi-state at Argos, West Lafayette beat home-standing Argos 2-0 and third-ranked Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, 3-2, for its first semi-state title after three consecutive trips.

Gibson Southern turned its first sectional championship in the sport into a chance to win it all. The Titans avenged a regular season defeat to top-ranked Evansville Mater Dei for the sectional title and then rolled through the semi-state with an overtime win against No. 12 Park Tudor and fourth-ranked Lawrenceburg.

The Class A boys final calls for No. 1 Guerin Catholic (17-2-3) to face unranked Providence (15-6-2).

Guerin won its third straight sectional and regional this year, then shut out No. 6 Andrean and survived a 2-1 overtime decision against second-ranked Fort Wayne Bishop Luers for the Golden Eagles’ first semi-state crown.

Providence will try to achieve what the school’s girls team did a year ago when it won the first Class A girls tournament. The red-hot boys team has outscored its seven tournament opponents 20-0 including a 2-0 win over No. 17 Oldenburg and a 1-0 overtime affair against Forest Park at the semi-state.

The 2A girls championship involves No. 2 Avon (17-2-3) and No. 5 Fishers (16-2-3) in a rematch of a regular season game. The Orioles and Tigers ended in a 1-1 draw in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference match at Avon on Sept. 11. This time it’s for all the marbles.

Fishers earned the school’s first sectional title in arguably the state’s toughest sectional with three of the top six teams involved. The Tigers pulled out a penalty kick shootout with No. 3 Noblesville in the opener and then survived an overtime encounter with sixth-ranked sister school Hamilton Southeastern.

Avon won its sixth regional crown this season and first semi-state in its last three outings. The Orioles beat No. 10 Brebeuf 1-0, No. 20 Columbus East 2-0, and No. 12 Center Grove 2-1 in consecutive matches.

The Class 2A boys finale on Saturday night features a pair of unbeatens in No. 2 Avon (22-0-1) and No. 4 Crown Point (20-0-1). The lone blemish on both teams’ schedule occurred on Sept. 21 when Avon ended in a scoreless tie at Zionsville and Crown Point ended in a 2-2 draw at Mt. Vernon (Fortville).

The Avon boys have won four straight matches against ranked foes including a 3-2 decision over top-ranked and defending state champion Columbus North followed by a 2-1 victory over Evansville Memorial, both at the Evansville semi-state.

Crown Point will look to win its second 2A title in three seasons this weekend and has 10 players (six seniors, four juniors) on this year’s roster from that 2011 team. Seniors Bay Kurtz and Carmelo Morales connected on two of the four winning penalty kicks in that 2011 win over Columbus North. This year’s Bulldogs won their third straight sectional crown, beat a pair of Duneland Conference rivals including No. 14 Chesterton in the regional, and then fought off No. 9 Warsaw on the road and two-time defending Class A state champion Fort Wayne Canterbury in the semi-state.

All four matches will be live streamed at IHSAAtv.org. You may also follow us on Twitter at @IHSAA1.

20th Annual IHSAA Boys & Girls Soccer State Finals
Date: Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013.
Site: Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium, IUPUI, 1001 W. New York Street, lndianapolis, Indiana, 46202.
Admission: $10 per person.
Webcast: IHSAAtv.org
Traffic Note: Please be aware that several roads may be closed near the downtown area on Saturday morning and early afternoon due to a marathon race. Carroll Stadium is located just west of the start/finish line using this map.

Girls Brackets | Boys Brackets | Meet the Teams | Order Photos

Notables

State Finals Appearances: Seven of the eight teams are making their first appearance in the IHSAA Soccer State Finals. Only Crown Point, the 2011 Class 2A state champion, has previously appeared.

First Time Sectional Champions
Fishers (2A) and Gibson Southern (1A) both won their school’s first girls soccer sectional championship this season.

Boys and Girls Teams Playing in the State Finals, Same Year
Evansville Memorial (1994, 2006, 2008).
Avon (2013).
Carmel (1997).
Indianapolis Cathedral (2010).
Lake Central (2005).
South Bend St. Joseph’s (2003).

Boys and Girls Teams in State Championship Match, Same Year
Evansville Memorial (2008).
Carmel (1997).
South Bend St. Joseph’s (2003).

Boys and Girls Teams Win State Championship, Same Year
Evansville Memorial (2008).

Media Information

State Finals Media Credentials: The 2013-14 IHSAA State Finals Media Credential issued previously for the girls golf and boys tennis state finals is good for admission. For those outlets without credentials and planning to cover the event, please apply by e-mailing your request (with name of individual applying) to IHSAA Sports Information Director Jason Wille at jwille@ihsaa.org. E-mail requests MUST originate from a recognized business account; e-mails from personal accounts (ie: yahoo.com, aol.com, etc.) will not be accepted. Approved requests will be available for pickup at the ticket trailer across New York Street from the northwest corner stadium entrance.

Parking: While no specific media parking is available, we recommend using the parking lots/garage directly across New York Street to the north of the stadium. Please be aware that IUPUI will charge a nominal parking admission.

Media Services: IHSAA Communications Assistant Toni Polizzi will be on site to assist you in your coverage on Saturday in the press box. Official programs will be available along with computer box scores following each championship match. Interviews may be conducted with players and coaches on the sidelines following the award ceremonies. Electrical power and wireless access will be available in the press box for filing stories and photographs.

Website Updates: The IHSAA.org website will be updated during the course of the day with final box scores and a recap of each of the four matches as will the IHSAA Twitter feed at @IHSAA1.

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Valparaiso’s Ismail Attallah will be Honored as Top Soccer Official
Ismail Attallah of Valparaiso is the recipient of the 2013 Interscholastic Athletic Official Association Award for excellence in the sport of soccer. Ismail will be honored in a special ceremony at Saturday’s state final tournament.

Each year, the Indiana High School Athletic Association, in cooperation with the National Federation of Interscholastic Officials Association, recognizes and honors an outstanding official in each of 11 sports during the school year.

A member of the Calumet Athletic Officials Association, Ismail has served as an IHSAA rules interpreter and clinician for eight years. Throughout his 20 year officiating career, Ismail has refereed nine sectionals, four regionals, two semi-states, and two state finals (2008 and 2009).

Attallah was selected for this honor by a committee representing the official’s associations. In Indiana there are 26 associations made up of men and women who give up much of their personal time to assist in providing wholesome, worthwhile, and healthy activities for the student athletes in our state. Statewide, there are more than 8,000 officials licensed by the IHSAA in 11 sports.

Ismail is a 1976 graduate of Hawalli in Kuwait and a 1984 graduate of Indiana Tech where he earned a degree in civil engineering. He is a construction manager and engineer for AES Services in Chicago. Attallah and his wife of 20 years, Asma, have four children: Nadine (19), Jewan (16), Osaid (11) and Leen (7).

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About the Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc. (IHSAA)
Founded in 1903, the purpose of the Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc. (IHSAA) is to encourage, regulate and give direction to wholesome amateur interschool athletic competition between its 412 member schools. The Association provides state championship tournament series in 20 sports, 10 for girls and 10 for boys. Approximately 160,000 student athletes participate in IHSAA sports on an annual basis.

IHSAA 13-14/13

Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc.

9150 Meridian Street (MAP)
Indianapolis, Indiana 46260

Phone: 317-846-6601