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INDIANAPOLIS – The Noblesville Millers simply refuse to lose.

Winners of four Class 3A state titles in five years before the game started, the defending state champion Millers made it five in six on Saturday during the 31st annual IHSAA girls soccer state finals with a 3-1 win over No. 14 Center Grove.

Ranked No. 1 in the nation, according to Maxpreps, No. 2 Noblesville took a 1-0 lead by the third minute and broke a 1-1 tie in the 31st minute en route to a three-peat.

The Millers not only kept their perfect title streak going by winning their fifth state finals game in five appearances since 2019, but they also tallied a 21st consecutive state tournament win, a streak that began in 2022 and ties Evansville Mater Dei’s wave from 2017-20.

Noblesville entered the state finals at Michael Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium on the campus of IU Indianapolis winners of 12 straight games.

Win No. 13 at their home away from home capped a string of dominance the past six years after stringing together a pair of back-to-back title runs in 2019-2020 and 2022-2023.

“I think it’s a standard that we’ve kind of put here. Again, you’re not great at the beginning of the year, but this is where we always want to be, and it can’t come without a great group of girls, a great coach to lead us,” Noblesville senior Meredith Tippner said. “Again, the expectation is to be here and hopefully be where we are right now.”

The Millers (19-0-2) are the third school in state tournament history to win at least three state titles consecutively and the first to ever achieve the feat in Class 3A.

Carmel won five straight state titles from 2001-05 during the single-class era. Evansville Mater Dei claimed state titles in 2017 and 2018 as a member of Class 1A and added a 2A crown in 2019.

Noblesville’s 19 wins this season marks the program’s second-best state championship finish. In 2022, the Millers posted a 20-1 record.

Noblesville won 17 games in both 2019 and in 2020 without a single loss. Last year, the Millers were 17-1-3.

“We joke around and say we’re home as we kind of drive up here, but again, this is the place where you want to play. Where everybody wants to be at the end of the year,” said Tippner, a University of Miami basketball commit. “Again, to be part of a program that’s allowed us to play at this field three times, and as the winners, it’s the group. It’s the community. It’s the people that get us here. No one individual or a couple of players.”

Three different Millers scored a goal to defeat Center Grove (16-5-3), which was making its first state finals appearance in 17 years.

Center Grove defeated a pair of ranked opponents in consecutive games to reach the program’s third state finals in program history and first since the single-class era.

The Trojans reached the state finals in both 1997 and 2007, finishing state runner-up in their first trip.

Center Grove avenged a pair of losses en route to state by beating No. 7 Castle 1-0 in the Seymour Regional finals after falling to the Knights 1-0 on Sept. 14. They also knocked off No. 12 East Central, 2-1, at the Martinsville Semi-State after suffering a season-opening loss to the EC Trojans, 1-0, on Aug. 17.

Against the Millers, a goal by junior Jessie Jasek in the 12th minute off a miscommunication near the box by Noblesville’s defense tied the game.

However, the deadlock didn’t last long.

The Millers carried a 1-0 lead after senior Kaydence Fleck cleaned up a loose ball off a corner-kick set piece in the third minute.

Jasek’s equalizer unfolded as Noblesville goalkeeper Bella Wyatt, a senior, drifted too far out of the box to secure a loose ball and collided with senior Ashlyn McNitt, who also charged the ball. Jasek snuck around both Millers and fired her goal uncontested.

“It definitely took a deep breath. I think once we took that deep breath, we calmed down. We started playing the ball. We connected, and it opened up for us,” said Noblesville senior Atley Pittman, a Toledo commit. “I think that helped us get those next two goals.”

Pittman supplied the go-ahead goal in the 31st minute off a tipped cross pass by Tippner, which she played for a goal that Center Grove keeper Anderson Broshears slightly brushed before it trickled into the net.

“We are so close and love each other so much. I think that was kind of the driving force to this state championship,” Pittman said.

The Millers’ defense and ball possession skills were a factor. Center Grove was held to five shots – two in the first half – and three shots on goal with two saved by Wyatt, an Ohio commit.

“We say the season starts in October when sectional rolls around,” Pittman said. “I think during the season we’re focused on getting to the best we can be in time for that first sectional game, and I think we do a good job of staying focused when we need to and being ready for every game that’s ahead of us.”

The Millers faced a challenging road to state, but they still outscored their postseason opponents 29-1.

After a 10-0 win over Anderson to open their own sectional, the Millers knocked off No. 16 Mt. Vernon (Fortville), 5-1, followed by a 1-0 victory against No. 1 Hamilton Southeastern in a battle between two nationally ranked programs.

The Millers tied with HSE, 1-1, on Aug. 31, during the regular season, but with nine shutouts registered during the regular season, the Millers posted five more in the postseason for 14 overall.

Two of those clean sheets included a 4-0 win over No. 8 Homestead in the Kokomo Regional final and a 4-0 victory against No. 13 Penn at the Kokomo Semi-State.

“It’s patience. You have to be humbled at the beginning of the year. You’re not going to be great, and that’s OK, but can you build and get better every single day? Again, do the little things every single day,” Tippner said.

Noblesville opened the year 6-0-2 with ties in Hoosier Crossroads Conference play before running the table towards another state title.

A goal by sophomore Delaney Stone assisted by Tippner finalized the margin in the 33rd minute.

“We always respond really well to high-pressure situations like that, so I’m just really proud of them. What a way to end a season,” Wyatt said.

The goal was the finale, Noblesville head coach Mike Brady emphasized after claiming his fifth state title in his 22nd year at the helm of the girls’ soccer program.

“I would have been proud of them no matter how the season went, but it really was setting the bar for a state title and being good come October, which we were and had to be to get past HSE, and then it kept rolling and got us to where we are now,” Brady said. “Again, I can’t even put my mind around three in a row, five in six years or any of those types of numbers. It’s absurd at this point.”

This season, the Millers didn’t allow more than one goal in any game, and only two teams in the state tournament found the back of the net.

“I just hate losing,” Brady joked. “Some people love winning. I just hate losing, so yeah, we do everything we can, and when you have the work ethic that these girls had this season, and again, they’re as much fun as any group can be, but when it was time to work, it was everything they had.”

Lauren Hopper of Center Grove earns Wynns Mental Attitude Award

Following the match, Lauren Hopper of Center Grove High School was named the recipient of the Theresia Wynns Mental Attitude Award.

Lauren ranks 29th out of 734 students in her senior class. She's a member of the Student Athlete Leadership Team, HOSA - Future Health Professionals of America, National Honor Society, and French Honor Society. In addition, Lauren is a two-time recipient of Academic All-State.

The daughter of James and Carlie Hopper of Greenwood, Indiana, Lauren is undecided on her college choice but plans to study exercise science.

The award is annually presented to a senior, who is nominated by her principal and coach, and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership, and athletic ability during her four years of high school. The award is named in honor of Theresia Wynns, who served as an IHSAA assistant commissioner from 1997-2012 and administered the sports of girls and boys soccer as well as the licensing of over 8,000 officials in the state of Indiana.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, a proud corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to the general scholarship fund at Center Grove High School in the name of Lauren Hopper.