INDIANAPOLIS – After losing a standout goalkeeper from a state-championship squad, then seeing a returning All-State player go down with a season-ending injury early this season, you could surmise that Park Tudor would have a big problem defending its Class 1A state championship.
If so, you wouldn’t be alone. You’d also be mistaken.
Thanks to a spectacular athletic goal by senior Dejanae Butler in the 26th minute, Park Tudor did, indeed, repeat as state champions with a 1-0 victory over Fort Wayne Canterbury – the same Canterbury squad the Panthers beat, 3-0, for the title in 2022.
“We really didn’t feel this would be our year,” Park Tudor coach John Simmonds admitted, as his team received their championship medals and trophy. “But, we had a lot of players who only played recreationally come through for us this year. This senior class did a great job handling their teammates.”
The fourth-ranked Panthers did have to withstand a furious charge by No. 6 Canterbury in the final minutes, but goalkeeper Katie Pavlack stood tall – in one instance, literally — to claim the school’s third title. Park Tudor also won in 2019.
The Panthers (16-4-1) finished the season on an eight-game winning streak and won 12 of their final 13 games. The victory is also the 12th-straight in tournament play.
Butler — whose sister, Dominae, is the All-Stater the team lost before the season to a torn ACL – tallied the only goal after she took a pass from teammate Mia Rettig on the right side of the Canterbury goal. Butler then used her lightning-quick speed to sprint toward the center and let go a left-footed shot from just inside the penalty box that beat the Canterbury keeper to the lower right corner.
“I got a touch on my left foot and placed it well,” said Butler, who recently chose an offer from Indiana University-East’s program. “I had confidence I could beat (the defender) and got it in.”
After the goal, Simmonds was content to have his team play more of a defensive formation.
“We’re not very deep and the fact it was warmer than normal tonight was a problem for us,” Simmonds said. “We decided to keep more numbers behind the ball and see if we could get Dejanae on a break.”
It worked, but not without a few tense moments.
After last year’s loss in the title game, as well as a 3-1 defeat early in the season, Canterbury coach Chelsea Dourson had to change things up.
“We’ve grown so much as a team and our ability to possess the ball has improved so much,” Dourson said. “We wanted to push our attack more urgently and it finally started to work better in the second half. We came alive when the pressure was on.”
Canterbury (12-9) had its first golden scoring opportunity in the 65th minute as Pavlack made a leaping save on Madelyn Herr’s free kick. Just two minutes later, the Cavaliers had an even better opportunity as Pavlack barely deflected a Ruby Greider shot just wide of the left goalpost.
From there, the Panthers were able to hold on, finishing with a 13-5 shots advantage.
“This is absolutely more satisfying,” Simmonds said of the championship run. “There’s something to be said about how this team grew together.”
Canterbury’s Stella VandeWater receives Wynns Mental Attitude Award
Following the match, Stella VandeWater of Canterbury School in Fort Wayne was named the recipient of the Theresia Wynns Mental Attitude Award.
Academically, Stella maintains a weighted GPA of 4.4. She helps lead the East Asian Affinity Group in her school wants to combine her interest in computing with studying Asian languages, minor in Asian studies, and studying abroad in an Asian country.
A four-year member of the Canterbury soccer program, she is a team captain that has helped the Cavaliers to two consecutive state championship matches.
The daughter of Julianne and Ryan VandeWater of Fort Wayne, Ind., Stella intends to study Computer Science and Asian Studies at Pomona College in Claremont, CA.
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 Canterbury School in the name of Stella VandeWater.