FORTVILLE — The opportunities were abundant and the goals scored were sufficient in Mt. Vernon continuing its long Hoosier Heritage Conference girls’ soccer winning streak.
The Marauders had 40 shots against New Palestine in Wednesday’s Hancock County and HHC rivalry match and came away with a 2-0 win against the Dragons at Mt. Vernon High School.
The win was Mt. Vernon’s 11th straight in HHC play, dating back to its last regular season league game in 2017, a loss to Pendleton Heights — though the Marauders did win the conference title. The Marauders went 7-0 in the HHC last season.
For the season, Mt. Vernon improved to 7-2 and 4-0 in the conference. New Palestine is 5-3-1 and 1-2 in the HHC.
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"I just thought we had way more opportunities than they did," Mt. Vernon coach Steve Williams said. "At some point, statistically, you’re going to score a couple or maybe more than two."
While the Dragons were doing a formidable job against the Marauders attack, their attack was limited.
New Palestine had just three shots and were unable to test Mt. Vernon goalkeeper Alex Overshiner.
"We had a feeling it was going to be more of a defensive game," New Palestine assistant coach Ted Thompson said. "We just couldn’t find the width on the field to get our attack forward like we have been trying to. Credit to the speed of the Marauders, definitely. They were able to close us down quickly."
The Marauders got a goal early in each half. The first came at the 32:40 mark. Senior Riley Hurst picked up her team-best 10th assist of the season, finding Shay Stindle, who beat New Palestine goalkeeper Haley Weinrich to give Mt. Vernon a 1-0 lead. It was goal No. 4 on the year for Stindle.
Weinrich was shaken up a few minutes later after a scramble and collision in front of the New Palestine goal. She left the game for backup Whitney Miller, who performed well, recording eight saves.
She was a big reason the Marauders did not reach their average of over five goals per game.
"Whitney has come a long way and earned every minute she played," Thompson said. "She has stepped in and wanted to do this to help the team. She made it very apparent (Wednesday) that she is on the right path.
"She started playing GK last year as a fill-in. She gave it her all this season and decided to train and learn the position."
"I thought she did a wonderful job," Williams said of Miller. "She didn’t make any mistakes. It had to be nervous for her. I give New Pal credit. They’re younger and we’re just a little more talented than they are right now."
The Marauders were able to get one by Miller early in the second half. At the 35:24 mark, sophomore Shay Shipley found junior Anna Isger for a 2-0 Mt. Vernon lead.
"They had a lot of numbers back," Williams said of the New Palestine defense. "So we dropped the ball back (to the midfield). That should have been there all night.
"That was going to be our strength tonight. If they packed it in against our forwards we were going to drop the ball back to our midfield and have them have shots."
The Marauders had plenty of shots and enough to find the back of the net.
“It is always good to get a win against New Pal," Williams added. "They are well-coached. In these games you can throw the scorebooks out. They are always a tough team to beat."
