HANCOCK COUNTY — Graduation took away some of Hancock County’s top defenders, but all three girls soccer programs have either their leading scorer or a double-digit goal scorer returning for the 2024 season.
Lily Muhlenkamp and Ellie Gawrys were mainstays in the back row and all-Hoosier Heritage Conference players for co-league champion Mt. Vernon (10-5-1, 6-1).
New Palestine (10-7-1, 6-1) beat Mt. Vernon a year ago and shared the conference title, but will go into the coming season without graduated backline vets in All-HHC standouts Allie Blum and Vivian Miller.
Greenfield-Central (6-9-2, 3-4) will have big shoes to fill in goal with the graduation of all-conference and all-county goalkeeper Jessica Merritt.
The Cougars will be the first of the three to take the field when they host the 11th Annual Kickin’ Cancer Tournament Saturday at the G-C Soccer Complex.
Here’s a closer look at this year’s teams:
Greenfield-Central
The Cougars graduated 10 seniors, including all-conference players Merritt — now at Hanover College — and defender Kalyn Moss, and have 12 freshmen split between varsity and junior varsity programs, but they also have among their key returnees junior midfielder Paige McCarley.
A year ago, McCarley scored 14 goals, tying for eighth in the conference.
Sophomore Ainsley Robinson is another experienced midfielder and Tessa Joyner, a senior captain, was a key component in the back row last year.
Senior midfielder/goalkeeper Chaney Brown returns after missing a portion of last season due to injury. Claire Davidson, a senior, who led the team in minutes as a sophomore, is back after spending last year as part of a foreign-exchange program in Brazil.
“This team is going to be capable of playing multiple ways,” Greenfield-Central coach Brandon Steeno said. “The beginning of the season it will be us figuring out what everyone is most comfortable playing in competition.”
Senior wing Carley Means, junior wing Chloe Gardner, who played every minute of last year’s sectional championship match against East Central, senior center/midfielder Loren Bewley and junior utility Mer Rodriguez are all veterans from last year’s club.
In goal, Brown — who Steeno said can play any of the 11 positions — sophomore Caroline Felver and freshman Abbey Malet are all candidates to play.
Steeno said a key to the season will be how quickly the new players — freshmen and sophomores — pick things up.
The coach believes as many as 10 freshmen could see playing time. Leading the rookies are forward/midfielder Aubrey Bush, forward/midfielder Kinley Smith, defender Megan Byerley, Malet and midfielder Jessica Kleinknight, who will also play with the junior varsity group.
“We’re young and early on they will be figuring it out,” Steeno said. “They are a hard working group and worked really hard in the summer. I’m excited to see what the team can do as we get into the meat of our schedule.
“They are an exuberant group.”
Mt. Vernon
The Marauders have won or shared seven of the last eight HHC titles and spent much of last season ranked in the state’s top 20.
They will miss the likes of All-HHC defenders Gawrys and Muhlenkamp, both at Hanover, as well as all-county forward Mattie Isger, honorable mention all-county selection Addison Lockwood (Trine), and midfielder Lily Printz (Valparaiso), but the Marauders consistently reload rather than rebuild.
Plus, the cupboard is far from bare with the return of two-time all-county player Kylie Brandes. The Austin Peay commit had a county-best 16 goals, fourth in the HHC, and 12 assists, third in the HHC.
She’s back along with all-county senior Reagan Britt, and all-county honorable mention selections Esther Isger, Hannah Monroe and goalkeeper Ava Stephenson.
Esther Isger scored seven goals during her freshman season, third on the team behind Brandes and older sister Mattie, who had nine. Monroe is coming off a four-goal season.
Junior Jaicee Cole and sophomore Adelyn Nielsen are experienced in the back row and other returnees, juniors Taylor Bastin, Olivia Masterson and Camryn Burt, and sophomores Greer Stamper and Sydney Jones will have bigger roles in 2024.
More help comes from a talented group of freshmen that include Nahia McNamar, Kat Simmons and Sophia Batchelor.
Another new twist to the Marauders’ season is a switch to Class 3A Sectional 7, making the already toughest sectional in the state that much tougher.
The traditionally strong Marauders join Noblesville, Hamilton Southeastern and Fishers. Noblesville and HSE are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the preseason. The Marauders battled HSE to a draw last season.
Already playing a top-notch, non-conference schedule, the Marauders were already upgrading their slate prior to the sectional move. During the season they will play No. 2 HSE, No. 13 East Central, No. 18 Homestead, No. 19 Center Grove and Class 2A’s No. 1 Guerin Catholic and N0. 6 Chatard, the season opener.
“We need to continue to challenge ourselves and push ourselves,” Mt. Vernon coach Aaron Britt said.
New Palestine
The Dragons were just penalty kicks away from being in sole possession of the conference title last season.
They knocked off Mt. Vernon, but suffered the excruciating loss to Pendleton Heights, who the Marauders defeated.
Coach Erin Clark will miss back row stars Blum and Miller, but have some scoring punch back led by Indiana Wesleyan commit Tylar Whitaker.
She scored 14 goals and had six assists. All-HHC and honorable mention all-county selection Nevaeh Gebhart had six goals and five assists last season. Another All-HHC choice and honorable mention all-county player Rylee Hurst had four goals.
The team would have had its top four goal scorers back but sophomore Hannah Sund, who tallied seven times a year ago, is out with an injury.
Other key returnees with postseason accolades are senior defender Abby Lambdin and goalkeeper McKenzie Hacker. Both were honorable mention all-county. Hacker also had some minutes as a field player.
“We have the majority of our starters returning,” Clark said. “We lost Allie and Viv, who were huge keys to our defensive game, but we have all of our others [except Sund] back.”
Still, Clark believes some others, with experience, can jump in an help, including Gabby Brown and Addie Lindell, who missed either all or part of last year due to injury.
Seniors Bethany Blachly and Campbell Wintin, junior Shaylee Frank — who is a veteran in the midfield — and sophomores Lexie Compton and Dawsyn Cooper all are vying for spots on the backline.
Newcomer Adalynn Eakin, a sophomore goalkeeper who transferred from Greenfield-Central, could free up time for Hacker back in the field, though the junior played extremely well between the pipes last year.
The majority of the midfield returns, but frosh Hailey Pardieck could press for some playing time.
“I think we can, if we play well, win conference again,” Clark said. “The girls have the ability and that’s a goal of theirs.”
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2024 Girls Soccer Schedules
Greenfield-Central Cougars
Date;Opponent;Time
Aug. 17;vs. Lawrenceburg;9 a.m.
Aug. 17;vs. Warren Central or Batesville;1:30 p.m./3 p.m.
Aug. 19;vs. Franklin Central;7:30 p.m.
Aug. 21;at Roncalli;7 p.m.
Aug. 26;vs. Mt. Vernon;7 p.m.
Aug. 28;vs. Yorktown;7 p.m.
Sept. 4;at Pendleton Heights;7 p.m.
Sept. 11;at Delta;7 p.m.
Sept. 14;vs. Columbus North;12 p.m.
Sept. 18;at New Palestine;7 p.m.
Sept. 23;vs. New Castle;7 p.m.
Sept. 25;at Shelbyville;7 p.m.
Sept. 28;vs. Oldenburg Academy;11:30 a.m.
Sept. 30;at Indian Creek;6 p.m.
Oct. 3;vs. Heritage Christian;7 p.m.
Oct. 8-12;New Palestine Sectional;TBD
Aug. 17 is Kickin’ Cancer Tournament
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Mt. Vernon Marauders
Date;Opponent;Time
Aug. 19;vs. Bishop Chatard;7:30 p.m.
Aug. 22;at Tipton;6 p.m.
Aug. 24;at Franklin;11:30 a.m.
Aug. 26;at Greenfield-Central;7 p.m.
Aug. 28;at Guerin Catholic;7 p.m.
Aug. 31;vs. Homestead;2:30 p.m.
Sept. 3;vs. Shelbyville;7 p.m.
Sept. 5;at New Castle;7 p.m.
Sept. 9;vs. Lawrence North;7 p.m.
Sept. 11;at New Palestine;7 p.m.
Sept. 14;vs. Yorktown;12:30 p.m.
Sept. 18;at Center Grove;7:30 p.m.
Sept. 25;vs. East Central;7:30 p.m.
Sept. 28;at Delta;10 a.m.
Sept. 30;vs. Pendleton Heights;7 p.m.
Oct. 2;at Hamilton Southeastern;7:15 p.m.
Oct. 8-12;Sectional;TBD
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New Palestine Dragons
Date;Opponent;Time
Aug. 19;at Mooresville;6 p.m.
Aug. 24;vs. Lawrence North;10 a.m.
Aug. 26;vs. Richmond;6 p.m.
Aug. 29;at New Castle;7 p.m.
Aug. 31;at Delta;11 a.m.
Sept. 3;at Franklin Central;6 p.m.
Sept. 5;vs. Yorktown;5:30 p.m.
Sept. 7;at Shelbyville;9 a.m.
Sept. 11;vs. Mt. Vernon;5:30 p.m.
Sept. 16;at Center Grove;5:30 p.m.
Sept. 18;vs. Greenfield-Central;5:30 p.m.
Sept. 21;at Cathedral;10 a.m.
Sept. 23;at Franklin;5:30 p.m.
Sept. 25;vs. Pendleton Heights;5:30 p.m.
Sept. 28;at Plainfield;10 a.m.
Sept. 30;vs. Roncalli;5:30 p.m.
Oct. 8-12;Sectional;TBD
