PENDLETON — The Mt. Vernon girls soccer team handled Monday night’s game against Pendleton Heights — for a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference title — like a team that had been there before.
That’s because they have.
For the seventh time in the last eight seasons, the Marauders (10-4, 6-1) clinched at least a share of the HHC crown with a 5-0 win on the road over Pendleton Heights (5-8-1, 5-2).
“It’s great. What we talked about before this was that in life and other things, you’re not always given a second chance. We approached some games with not the right mentalities or attitudes and we got caught,” Mt. Vernon head coach Aaron Britt said. “But we were given the opportunity over the last few weeks to take care of our business and just do what we do. We were given that second chance and we took advantage of it.”
To get a share of the title, the Marauders had to take care of the Arabians who came into the game 5-1 in the conference as well, and with the same goal.
But as they’ve done in recent years to most of the HHC, including the Arabians, the Marauders handled things easily.
The win was Mt. Vernon’s sixth straight in the matchup, and their fourth shutout in that stretch, outscoring the Arabians 33-3 over the span.
“They have a great coach and a great group of young players. They proved this past week that they can play with a lot of good competition, and they play a really tough schedule. Their record is a little deceiving because when you’re playing top teams that’s what’s going to happen but it only makes them better,” Britt said. “We’ve been focusing on taking the opponent out of it and just focusing on what we can control and how we can approach the game with intensity, and a good mentality. All those things that we can control, we need to control those things, and we’ve been doing it lately.”
Since an overtime loss to New Palestine early in September, the Marauders have won five of their last six games, all by shutouts.
That trend continued on Monday fueled by a relentless offensive attack.
“We’ve been working the last couple of weeks,” Britt said. “You build towards this time of the season, you want to be playing well, and we’re playing well right now.”
In the opening half, Mt. Vernon attempted 14 shots to Pendleton Heights two and grabbed a 2-0 lead at the break.
Just over three minutes in, junior Kylie Brandes got the scoring, and her four-point night, started.
Off of a good move past the Arabians defense, Addison Lockwood hit Brandes in front of the net for the early lead.
Later in the half, Brandes returned the favor.
On a free kick from outside of the right side of the box, Brandes put a perfect pass near the back post, and a Lockwood header made it 2-0.
A few Pendleton Heights chances in the final 15 minutes of the half were turned away each time by sophomore goalkeeper Ava Stephenson.
In the second half, Brandes added two more assists, and defender Ellie Gawrys added two goals to help the Marauders cruise to the victory.
Before the two Gawrys goals, Mattie Isger increased the lead to 3-0 off of an assist from Brandes.
Just under the 30-minute mark, a foul on Pendleton Heights in the box gave the Marauders a penalty kick, and Gawrys beat Arabians goalkeeper Priscilla Barajas to the left.
Capping off the scoring for Mt. Vernon was Brandes finding Gawrys off of a corner kick for her third assist of the night.
“The biggest thing tonight was that effort level and intensity, and determination. That generates opportunities,” Britt said. “That’s the biggest part, just go win the ball, dig it out, and know that we can play quick and be dangerous. That was our main focus.”
The No. 19 Marauders close out the regular season on Wednesday at home against No. 2 Hamilton Southeastern. Sectional play for the Marauders begins on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at Shelbyville with a rematch of last year’s championship game against No. 9 East Central.
