Penn beats South Bend Adams to claim 3rd place in NIC girls soccer

SOUTH BEND — Penn vs. Adams girls soccer Wednesday, Sept. 23 had the intensity and atmosphere of an IHSAA state tournament game. At the very least, both sides played like first place in the Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) standings was on the line, even if it wasn’t.

Instead, the winner would claim third place and the loser would finish in fourth. In a league like the NIC, however, that’s just about as good as winning a conference title elsewhere in girls soccer.

“These games are big, and they’re fun, and they prepare us for the postseason; This was like a postseason game,” Penn head coach Jeff Hart said. “We’ll have to play Northridge and Goshen, and they’re going to play relentless soccer. [Adams] is a rivalry; we played them in the sectional final last year and it went to overtime. We knew it was going to be tough and physical, and we know they have explosive players.”

Penn turns back Eagles for key conference boys soccer victory

While the aforementioned 2025 Class 3A sectional final ended in a 1-0 overtime victory for the Kingsmen, this regular season affair Wednesday was a 5-3 victory for Penn.

Adams struck first as junior Navy Smith scored less than eight minutes into the game to put the Eagles ahead 1-0.

Just eight minutes after that, Penn junior Tori Schramski found the back of the net to tie it 1-1. With 11:26 left in the first half, the 3A No. 13 Kingsmen went ahead of Adams 2-1 thanks to a goal from sophomore Lillian McMillen.

Quickly out of halftime, Penn scored two more goals – one from senior Holly Hamilton and another from sophomore Alisa Noakes – to take a 4-1 lead with nearly 30 minutes left to play.

After NIC losses to Mishawaka Marian and South Bend Saint Joseph, it was clear the Kingsmen came to Tallman Field motivated.

“I’ve been trying to hold people accountable, and we’ve been trying to lift each other up,” Hamilton said. “A big thing is that our energy always needs to be high. On those days where we don’t feel like keeping that up, we try to push each other. Those who are at 50% help the ones who are at 10%.”

Mishawaka Marian beats Penn to claim 2026 NIC girls soccer championship

With about 24 minutes left to play, Adams sophomore Arianna Jones earned a penalty kick and scored, cutting Penn’s lead to 4-2 before Smith scored once again 18 minutes later to make it a 4-3 game. The Eagles had life on their home field, but soon senior team captain Talina Riley went down and exited the game with leg cramps.

Shortly thereafter, Kingsmen junior Emily Sachire scored on a penalty kick of her own. Penn held Adams off for the remaining 4:13 to clinch third place in the NIC.

“This team is definitely going places, that’s for sure,” Schramski said. “We spend a lot of time in practice talking about things we can control rather than things we can’t, which is our effort. You can’t control your skill, and you only get 1% better every day, so we try to make sure our effort is at 110%.”

Marian has already clinched the NIC with a 5-0 mark as of publication and will try to finish 6-0 when the Class 3A No. 9 Knights play New Prairie Sept. 29. Saint Joseph came in second, with the 2A No. 4 Huskies’ only conference loss coming against Marian.

Penn moves to 8-3-1 on the season with a 3-2 Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) mark, clinching third place in the top-heavy league. Adams, which is 5-5-1 with a 3-3 NIC record, clinches fourth place.

Hart gave a lot of praise to the Eagles, as they scored the second-most goals on Penn this season behind 3A No. 1 Hamilton Southeastern’s six on Aug. 22. Because of his respect for head coach Ryan Yazel’s squad, Hart was very satisfied with his squad’s performance, even if he was a bit frustrated at allowing Adams to make it a 4-3 game after claiming a 4-1 lead.

“They’re playing for each other, and they care about each other,” Hart said. “That’s the way a high school season should be, regardless of sport. In Indiana, none of us get knocked out before the tournament, so you should spend the season trying to develop your kids, develop a mindset, develop a culture and make sure your team is ready to go when it’s the postseason, because it [becomes] a one-game season.”

South Bend Saint Joseph girls soccer dedicate win vs Penn to injured captain

Yazel called those atop the NIC standings year after year the league’s ‘Big 3,’ but with the way Hart and the other two team’s head coaches speak about the challenges of playing against the Eagles, that group may have to be updated to a ‘Big 4.’

He understands, however, that it’s one thing to have camaraderie with and respect from opposing conference coaches after losing to them in close games. It’s another to actually beat one of them, something Adams has not done since defeating Marian Oct. 1, 2020.

“It’s hard to imagine many more conferences across the state that have four teams that play at the level we do. It’s meaningful for us to be a part of that,” Yazel said. “It’s up to us to get those breakthrough wins. Being a public school in the heart of our city, playing for our city, we want people to know that they can come to a school known for its academic excellence and they can have a soccer team that competes at those highest levels.

“If we show up the way we showed up tonight, I think we have a chance to compete well in sectionals and beyond. Nobody is underselling the obstacle that Marian presents in the sectional and Penn in the regional after that, hopefully.”

Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at ksmedley@usatodayco.com or follow him on X @KyleMSmedley.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Penn beats South Bend Adams to claim 3rd place in NIC girls soccer