GSoc STATE FINALS: Preview

From ihsaa.org

Four returnees from 2011 – two defending state champions and two runners-up – make up half the field competing Oct. 27 in the four championship games of the 19th Annual IHSAA Boys & Girls Soccer State Finals.

After culminating at Indianapolis’ Kuntz Stadium for the last 18 years, the 2012-13 state finals will be played at a different venue as Michael A. Carroll Stadium on the IUPUI campus will serve as host for the first time. The Class A boys final will begin the day at 10:30 a.m. ET, followed by the Class A girls at 1 p.m., 2A boys at 3:30 p.m., and the 2A girls match at 6 p.m.

All four matches will be streamed live at IHSAAtv.org.

The Class A girls championship is a rematch of last year’s inaugural final between No. 3 Mishawaka Marian (17-4-2) and No. 4 Providence (14-4-3). With both making their first appearance last year, it was Providence claiming the school’s first state title in any sport by winning a penalty-kick shootout, 3-1, to break a scoreless tie.

Both teams turned away a pair of Top 10 teams during last weekend’s semistate to set up the rematch. The Pioneers shut out No. 8 Evansville Mater Dei, 4-0, and the edged No. 9 Indianapolis Chatard, 3-2. The Knights, meanwhile, topped No. 2 West Lafayette and No. 6 Fort Wayne Luers by identical 4-1 scores.

The 2A girls final involves a pair of the state’s all-time winningest teams as No. 4 South Bend St. Joseph’s (21-2) meets No. 5 Evansville Memorial (20-3).

Memorial will be making its 10th state finals appearance, St. Joseph’s its seventh. Both teams have won two state championships, including St. Joseph’s 2-1 victory over Memorial in the 1998 championship match. This will be the third time the two schools have encountered each other at the state level, with St. Joe’s also taking a semifinal victory in the first state tournament in 1994.

St. Joseph’s biggest win of this tournament was a 2-1 overtime upset of No. 2 Hamilton Southeastern last Saturday.

STATE FINALS
Date: Saturday, Oct. 27
Times: All times ET
Admission: $10
Site: Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium, IUPUI, 1001 West New York Street, lndianapolis, 46202

Class A (boys): #6 Covenant Christian (Indianapolis) (10-12-1) vs. #5 Fort Wayne Canterbury (15-6-1). 10:30a
Class A GIRLS: #4 Providence (14-4-3) vs. #3 Mishawaka Marian (17-4-2). 1p
Class 2A (boys): #6 Columbus North (16-1-4) vs. #3 Warsaw (13-8-2). 3:30p
Class 2A GIRLS #5 Evansville Memorial (20-3) vs. #4 South Bend St. Joseph’s (21-2). 6p