On September 12, the boys soccer 1993 IHSAA State Champions returned to NC to support the current boys team as they faced Carmel. The game commemorated the 30th anniversary of the team’s championship win over Carmel.
The 1993 team, coached by Jerry Little, Jason Katner and Bruce Quilling, set the boys soccer program on a run of four consecutive State Championships, a feat that had never been done before and has yet to be repeated. The team included 3 All-Americans, three Indiana Player of the Year recipients, and in total 10 collegiate players.
In total, the team scored 142 goals and conceded three goals, keeping a perfect record of 27-0 and leading them to be ranked seventh nationally in USA Today and eighth in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s (NSCAA) Top 20.
“It has been one of the most dominating teams,” Jerry Little said, “They were a lot of what started off all of our success. It was one of the greatest teams to ever play in an Indiana high school.”
It is their legacy and their recalled joy for playing for NC that brought many players back to the field.
“It is special, it is really special,” Ben Anderson said, “This meant a lot to me as a kid, playing for North Central.To do it at the level that these guys played… It’s just next level.”
Anderson, who remains NC’s all time leader for goals against average of 0.111 goals per game, went on to play collegiately at Butler. His pride in the school is reflected by another defensive play, Seth Little, who went on to play at Wabash.
“I love the belief in the program and being a part of a team that’s got the name North Central on it,” Seth Little said, “Being part of the program and being able to come back and celebrate it 30 years later, still having fond memories, is something amazing.”
Such fond memories allowed the team to fall back into their old way 30 years after their season’s end. In the long term, those collective memories are cherished more than their collective successes.
“In the end it was the guys, that’s why I’m back here. It’s been exciting to reconnect with everyone,” Anderson said, “The bus rides, the banter back and forth, the music in the locker room, Jerry’s epic pregame speeches, death camp – which was the conditioning that was by far the most difficult physical exertion you could ever put yourself through – has brought me back today.”
What made the team’s recognition special was that they were able to witness the current boys team defeat a highly-ranked Carmel, the same feat the alumni achieved in the State Final in 1993. The nature of the NC-Carmel rivalry remains clear in the players’ minds.
“We don’t like Carmel and we’re never going to like Carmel,” Anderson said, “They had no respect for us, we had no respect for them and that is what we like. It has stayed the same and I hope for it to remain the same.”
Behind the contempt between the players was a friendship between Jerry Little and Dan Kapsalis, the Carmel boys soccer coach, that remained unknown to the team in order to preserve the naturality of their rivalry.
“It’s been a good rivalry in the sense that I’ve always been friends with their coaches,” Jerry Little said, “We actually had a deal where after every game we went out together and the winner bought cigars and the loser bought the meal. Sometimes the referees would go with us. The kids never knew, they just thought we were trying to knock each other out.”
All of their experiences – the accomplishments, the memories, the friendships – reminded the players of the preciousness of high school soccer, and as they reconveined as a group they were able to revive many cherished moments.
“Don’t take it for granted,” Anderson said, “It goes by pretty quickly. These are fun, fun times that you don’t get back, and that’s the reason we returned.”
