Historic season ends with Homestead at No. 1

An incredible season capped by a historic accomplishment. That may be the best way to summarize the year that the Homestead (Ind.) girls soccer team put together to earn the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://prepsoccer.net/home/team-rankings/girls-top-50/">FAB 50 No. 1 final fall ranking for 2021</a></span>. An undefeated regular season was followed by a postseason run that forced the Spartans to overcome adversity. They responded with the resilience that a championship team needs to have. As a result, Homestead was the team left standing in Class 3A. With an experienced and talented roster returning for the 2021 season, hopes were understandably high on the south side of Fort Wayne. The team was led by Penn State commit and member of the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team, senior [player_tooltip player_id="22252" first="Amelia" last="White"], backed up the excitement by getting off to a flying start in the regular season. "We went into the season with the goal of winning state," Head coach Rick Link said of the team’s mindset at the outset of the campaign. "While all teams may say that, we believed that if we played unselfish soccer and to our potential that it was a realistic goal for us. We never dreamed or spoke of going undefeated and untied. Our approach each year, because we are not in a conference, is to use the regular season to improve, try different formations and prepare for the state tournament. While we want to win every game, we don’t talk a lot about it, we just want to get better and play our best in the tournament as that is all that we have to play for each season." Three early-season wins over Indiana Top 20 opponents set the tone for the rest of the season. Homestead was convincing in all three of those victories, demonstrating what they were capable of while outscoring their opponents 14-1. The Spartans dominated the regular-season competition and early-round tournament games. The challenges would get much more difficult for the Spartans, but as Link explained, these matches would test the team’s grit and determination. "We met our first real test in our sectional final game vs. Warsaw, who we had beat in the regular season 4-0. We didn’t play our best game and they sat back in the box and took us to a PK shootout. This was the beginning of testing the true grit of our team to see how bad they wanted to continue our run," Link said. "It was also the start of an unbelievable tournament run by our goalie (Madison Roush)." Roush came up with a huge save in the shootout against Warsaw as Homestead advanced. But things would only get more difficult in the rounds ahead. Up next for the Spartans was a home contest against two-time defending state champ and FAB 50 No. 1 Noblesville. In front of a raucous crowd, White scored a hat trick and Roush came up with several big-time saves for the Spartans. At the back, [player_tooltip player_id="22252" first="Amelia" last="White"]’s twin sister, IUPUI commit Sophia, kept the back line organized just as she did all season long. The Spartans topped Noblesville 4-2 to advance to the regional semifinals. After beating Harrison 2-0, the team advanced to take on South Bend St. Joseph. However, Homestead would again be tested when they had to get the job done without [player_tooltip player_id="22252" first="Amelia" last="White"], who was in California training with the U.S. Under-20 National Team. The game seemed to follow a very familiar script: the game goes to penalties where Roush would, once again, come up big. The only difference: she made two clutch saves instead of one. From there, the Spartans had one obstacle left standing -- a state championship tilt against the perennial state title challenger Carmel, the same team that knocked off Homestead at that stage in 2018. This year, however, the story was to have a much different, and from Homestead’s perspective a much happier, ending, but not without drama. [player_tooltip player_id="22252" first="Amelia" last="White"] was back in the lineup and she wasted little time making her presence felt. With not quite 10 minutes elapsed, White found the back of the net, her 25th of the season, to give her side the early lead. Late in the second half, a goal from junior Sydney Couch doubled Homestead’s lead and put them on the cusp of a state title. But the Greyhounds did not go away quietly. Quickly after Couch’s goal, Carmel was able to pull one back and cut the Homestead lead in half, setting up a tense finale. In the game’s final minute, the Spartans would need to dig in as Carmel would have one last opportunity from off of a corner kick. Once again, Roush would be called upon to slam the door shut. She was able to fend off a header from point-blank range in the final seconds. After her clearance, the Spartans held on, preserving a historic 2-1 victory. Looking forward, in order to keep defending its trophy, Homestead will need to find adequate replacements for both Amelia and [player_tooltip player_id="22404" first="Sophia" last="White"] and Roush in goal. The Spartans will be able to rely on state championship match goal scorer Sydney Couch, who will be back to lead the offense next year. She had 23 goals and 14 assists in 2021. In the meantime, however, Link summarizes their banner year by discussing the pride he has in the team. "We felt like we were destined to win as the girls were so determined, played as a team, supported each other, and met every obstacle they encountered. So proud of them and it is still hard to believe that we finished the season as the No. 1 team in the state and country."