WEST LAFAYETTE — Harrison girls soccer set the tempo early.
A five-goal first half catapulted the Raiders to an IHSAA Class 3A, Sectional 7 Championship victory over Lafayette Jeff, 7-0, on Saturday, Oct. 10.
It marked a return to form for the program. Harrison won back-to-back championship games in 2023 and 2024 but fell in the semifinal to McCutcheon last season. The Mavericks went on to face the Bronchos, coming away with a 2-1 win.
More: 2026 IHSAA girls soccer sectional results for Lafayette area
Now back on the mountaintop of the sectional, this stretch felt like a revenge tour for the Raiders. The run started with a 9-0 win over Logansport in the quarterfinal before they claimed an 8-1 defeat over McCutcheon in a semifinal rematch, before the eventual championship win against Jeff (9-7-1).
That experience a year ago was one Harrison (13-2-4) didn’t want to have to relive again.
“I think we all kind of came in with a common goal of not letting that happen again for sure,” head coach Amy Maxwell said. “We kind of had to take our licks with some of the scheduling and stuff throughout the season, but that really kind of exposed some things that we needed to do to move forward.”
Harrison is awarded the sectional championship trophy with a 7-0 win over Lafayette Jeff.
It marks the Raiders’ third sectional win in four years. @RaiderUpdates pic.twitter.com/VJeOurzuHj
— Chase Gemes (@chasegemes) October 10, 2026
The Raiders have been on a tear since they picked up a 6-0 win against Danville on Sept. 26. They’ve won six consecutive games including the postseason, totaling 39 goals and only giving up two. Much of that dominance on the offensive end can be chalked up to the duo of Kyler Keen and Aleah Szymanski.
Despite only being a freshman, Keen has amassed 26 goals and 16 assists this season. That included a four-goal and three-assist performance in the sectional win over McCutcheon.
On Saturday against the Bronchos, Keen added two goals to her resume. To open up the game at the 34:54 mark of the first half, she lifted one into the back of the net off an assist from Szymanski. With 8:47 remaining in the half, she scored the second on a beautiful header.
“Kyler coming in this year, she just understands gaps so well,” Maxwell said. “Because she plays at a high-level pace in the offseason, she can see the gaps so fast with this situation.”
Szymanski also had two of Harrison’s seven goals. She made it 2-0 at the 20:10 mark of the first half off a perfect pass from across the field, drilling it into the right side of the goal. To add to the barrage in the second half, she scored another off an assist from Ryan Schetzsle to make it 6-0 with 35 minutes remaining.
The senior was initially more of a defensive midfielder early in her high school career. But after coming to Maxwell with a desire to be more of a scorer, they worked on molding her into the position last season. It’s turned out to be a huge development for the Raiders.
“Aleah is one that has really kind of leaned into that striker position,” Maxwell said. “I worked with her last year on some of that striker movement and how to play more horizontally instead of vertically.”
Attacking from the very start boded well through the first two rounds of the sectional for Harrison, and that gameplan continued to be successful Saturday. Reese Kano, Mallori McColley and Grace Fassnacht all finished the day with a goal of their own as well.
No matter who won between the Raiders and Bronchos, either team was going to move on to face a borderline impossible challenge in the regional. Harrison will go up against Hamilton Southeastern (19-0) Wednesday, Oct. 14 at HSE, who just so happens to be the No. 1 team in the country.
It’s a similar challenge that Maxwell faced in her first season ever as a varsity coach, and that time she managed to hold off the opponent from scoring up until the middle of the second half. Having a near-perfect defensive performance will be the key if the Raiders are to get this major upset.
“I’ll be studying up tons of game film and figuring out what angle,” Maxwell said. “I’ll be looking to see whatever angle we can supply in order to compete.”
Chase Gemes covers high school sports and Purdue women’s basketball for the Journal & Courier. He can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Harrison girls soccer capture IHSAA sectional championship with offensive flurry