Junior forward/midfielder Henry Lenehan can’t imagine Illiana Christian without classmate Josh Carter.

That underscores just how much Carter contributes to the Vikings as a teammate, midfielder and leader.

“Overall, he can do pretty much anything on the field,” Lenehan said. “He’s a great defender. He’s a great offensive player.

“He helps build our team and adds comedic relief to our team too. He makes everybody laugh. He’s always there to make us smile and keep us going. He helps with our confidence and builds that up before a game. Without that, the team wouldn’t be the same, without Josh in the middle.”

Fortunately for Lenehan and the rest of the Vikings (2-1-1), Carter has been a mainstay, a starter since his freshman season. After a large and talented class graduated after last season, Carter’s role has expanded even further.

“We’re definitely growing,” Carter said. “From the start, we were really discouraged because of all of the players we lost from last year. But it’s going really well. We’re growing together. The chemistry is definitely building.”

Carter, a team captain along with senior central defender Carter Slings, has been central to that process. As an upperclassman with extensive experience, he has embraced that responsibility.

“We’re trying to build relationships, even at school, just trying to become friends with all the new people,” Carter said. “It’s just building a good team. I try to build friendships. I try to bring the team together. I try to encourage everybody to have the same goal and to play the same style.

“I really want us to possess the ball. Sometimes it doesn’t work. But that’s what I try to do, what I try to tell the team. But sometimes it does work, and when we do it well, it’s really good.”

Carter, who moved to the Region from Fort Wayne with his family when he was 5 years old, is a key to the Vikings’ ability to play that style.

“He’s our most impactful midfield player,” Illiana Christian coach Todd Bevan said. “He brings a lot to the game, not just from the ball-possession standpoint and the technical skills, but he’s adding the finishing element to his game.”

Indeed, Carter should have opportunities to increase his production this season. He has one goal after the Vikings played Hammond Central to a 1-1 tie Wednesday. He posted three goals and seven assists last season and four goals and seven assists as a freshman.

One goal in particular from Carter’s freshman season stands out to Bevan, cementing the idea that Illiana Christian had something special. Carter netted the opener in a game at Crown Point, a matchup that ended in a 1-1 tie, which Bevan described as “one of the best games we’ve played.”

“It was a fun moment,” Bevan said. “He was small, lacked some confidence, was a bit nervous. It’s hard to transition to the varsity game as a freshman. But he was a very technical player.”

In 2021, the season before Carter joined the program, the Vikings reached a Class 1A regional final, losing in penalty kicks to eventual state champion Westview. So there was a degree of added pressure on players such as Carter when they entered high school.

“It definitely was scary,” he said. “I was definitely nervous starting as a tiny little freshman. Going up against bigger teams, it was a little scary. But as I got to know the guys and got better in the game, it became fun, and all the nerves went away.

“I’ve definitely become more confident on the ball, off the ball. As a freshman, I was really nervous, so the confidence level was not there. But now it definitely is. I just want to try to provide a good experience for everybody else.”

The Vikings enhanced that experience by adding a Class 2A sectional championship last season, and they’ve won three straight Greater South Shore Conference titles. Expectations for Carter and the Vikings remain high.

“A lot of things go through Josh for us to be successful,” Bevan said. “There’s a lot of talent around him, a lot of guys who are his friends who’ve played together a long time. Our junior class has really grown together. The connection and the chemistry on the team is really high, which is great to see.

“So even though we graduated a good class, a lot of good players — but we’ve done that every year. It’s not just a good class. It’s not just a good couple years. It’s a good program. It’s a place where you can have success and improve as players and as young men. We aren’t rebuilding. We’re just reloading this season.”