Mt. Vernon’s Khloe Patterson blocks a shot by New Palestine’s Bethany Aldridge during penalty kicks. Mt. Vernon went on to defeat New Palestine, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
By Brady Extin | Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — After being held scoreless for two consecutive games, the Mt. Vernon offense finally broke back onto the scoresheet Monday night.
In two tough 1-0 losses against Class 3A Top 10 opponents Fishers and Center Grove last week, the Marauders had plenty of chances to score but just couldn’t find the back of the net.
Monday, their relentless attack finally paid off in a 3-0 win over the visiting Batesville Bulldogs, who came in ranked in Class 2A.
“Coming off of back to back Top 10 teams where we were in those games and should’ve had a better result, we were just trying to keep their head in it, and realize that we aren’t happy with those results but we are competing against those teams at that level.” Mt. Vernon head coach Aaron Britt said. “And, then can we do that all the time and not just against Top 10 teams and be consistent? So, it was a little better tonight.”
Batesville, who entered the game 8-1, had allowed only four goals all season. They had three straight shutouts, seven clean sheets in the last eight games.
It took less than 10 minutes for Mt. Vernon to end that streak.
After a Batesville foul just outside the box, sophomore Kylie Brandes took the free kick and fired a near-perfect shot into the top right corner above the outstretched hand of Bulldogs goalie Renee Lecher.
That was just the beginning of a big night for Brandes.
Midway through the first half she fired a corner kick to the front of the net that was deflected in for the goal by Ellie Gawrys.
She capped off her night, and the scoring for the Marauders, later in the first when she snuck a low shot past Lecher.
“We created a ton of opportunities but the keeper just made some unbelievable saves to keep them in the game,” Britt added. “We did the same thing the last two games. We were creating chances and opportunities, so tonight to get a couple poked in was good.”
While the Marauders fired shot after shot on net at Lecher all night long, it was a completely different story on the other end of the field where Mt. Vernon goalie Khloe Patterson stood.
In total she was forced to save just one shot on a Batesville corner kick with only 21 minutes remaining in the game.
“The best defense is to have the ball. Something that we preach is we want to control the game and that starts with possession,” Britt said. “Defensively Ellie and Lily [Muhlenkamp] do such a great job of keeping everybody organized so any attack is dealt with quickly and back under our control.”
With the win Mt. Vernon gets back on track and moves to 8-4 on the season. The Marauders face Lawrence Central Wednesday.
