GREENFIELD — Thursday night’s boys soccer match at Greenfield-Central between the host Cougars and Mt. Vernon was a typical Hancock County and Hoosier Heritage Conference rivalry.
With the Rob Thomas Cup up for grabs, it meant even a little more.
“Anytime you get to play for a Rob Thomas Cup, it’s an honor,” Greenfield-Central assistant coach Matt McConnell said. “Coach Rob was a big deal to all three schools in the county, and we hope to get another chance at it this year.”
The traveling county trophy, named in memory of the late coach so instrumental in the sport throughout the entire county, had only been held by one team since its creation in 2021.
That was until Thursday night.
The Marauders (5-3, 3-2) knocked off the Cougars (2-8, 1-3) 7-0 to take control of the cup for the first time.
“When I started at Mt. Vernon, Rob was the JV coach, so I got to know him pretty well, so this does mean a lot. He’s had an impact with all three high schools and the local clubs,” Mt. Vernon head coach Matt Mayhew said. “Having a chance to win this was special for me because I knew him, and it was special for these boys just to have a positive thing happen for us this season.”
An all-around dominant performance by the Marauders both defensively and offensively made taking the cup, and adding another HHC win to their record, stress-free.
An early goal called back due to offside just stalled the Mt. Vernon scoring outburst a few more minutes, but the Marauders weren’t kept out of the net for long.
They broke through with their first goal of the game 15 minutes in. In front of a crowded net, Drew Lynch put a shot passed G-C goalkeeper Jordin Jones.
Two saves by Jones on great Mt. Vernon scoring chances over the next 10 minutes kept the Cougars around, but the Marauders added one more before the half.
Off of a blocked shot, Colby Smith fired a shot passed Jones from outside the box into the top left corner of the net for the 2-0 lead.
The goal was the first of two for Smith.
He opened the second half scoring with a goal six minutes in off of an assist by Shawn Houser.
“It was just us being patient. When we slowed down and started playing the ball on our feet, we got some momentum,” Mayhew said. “It came down to just slowing down, playing the way we want to, and moving forward as a team.”
Mt. Vernon added five total goals in the second half. Following the Smith goal, Charlie Cole found the back of the net twice, and both Nate Bennett and Houser scored once.
On the night, the Marauders attempted 21 shots, unofficially. Nick Heitman had two assists for Mt. Vernon. Carson O’Farrell, Ethan Ludlow, Bennett and Houser each added one.
“It was just mental focus. Our defense was not representative of how they have begun to play,” McConnell said. “Credit to Mt. Vernon though for finding lots of gaps.”
The Cougars were limited offensively, with Mt. Vernon maintaining control of the ball throughout the midfield. Unofficially, they were limited to just seven shot attempts.
“We had the pressure up top, controlled the ball, and controlled the pace that we wanted to play at,” Mayhew said. “I think that took them out of some of their stuff, but kudos to our guys for playing the way that we’ve talked about over the last couple of weeks.”
Following an overtime loss to New Palestine last Tuesday, Mt. Vernon has responded with back-to-back HHC shutouts. They beat Yorktown 4-0 last Thursday. They’ll look to keep that streak going when they host Shelbyville on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“We talked about what happened in that game, and watched a lot of film. We changed some of our strategies a bit. It just shows the heart that these guys have,” Mayhew said. “Not a lot of them had varsity experience before this year, so seeing them learn to find ways to gut things out and come back from games like that is exciting to see.”
For Greenfield-Central, they’ll have a week to prepare for the other Hancock County team, New Palestine. They host the Dragons next Thursday at 7 p.m.
“What’s done is done. These boys all know that we can play way better,” McConnell said. “We’ve got seven days to turn it around before we go right into another slugfest.”
