SHELBYVILLE — It was expected sooner or later Mt. Vernon and East Central would meet in the Shelbyville Girls Soccer Sectional.
They played in three of the last four sectional championship matches and had met four consecutive years in the tournament.
In addition, Mt. Vernon came in ranked No. 17 in the state in the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association Class 3A poll. East Central was No. 8. They came in as co-favorites to move on to regional play.
The IHSAA blind draw last week decided it would be sooner rather than later. The Marauders and Trojans made it five straight tournament battles when they were selected to be the first quarterfinal match of the Shelbyville Sectional Tuesday.
East Central broke a 1-1 tie late in the first half and added an insurance goal in the final five minutes of the second period to defeat Mt. Vernon 3-1.
The Trojans have won four of those five contests, including the last two years in the sectional title game.
“In our minds, no matter when, whether it was the first game or the last game (we expected to play East Central) and we were looking forward to it,” Mt. Vernon coach Aaron Britt said.
Britt and the Marauders had good reason to be looking forward and ready to take on the Trojans.
They were 5-1-1 in their last seven, including a 0-0 tie to second-ranked Hamilton Southeastern last week.
“The last half of the season we did what we wanted to do. We wanted to be playing our best coming into (the sectional),” Britt said. “To build to that point and play well, just unfortunate (Tuesday).”
A year ago at New Palestine, they were tied 1-1 after regulation and two overtime periods, East Central defeated Mt. Vernon in a penalty-area shootout. In 2021, at Greenfield-Central, East Central eliminated Mt. Vernon in the championship game 2-0.
In 2020, Mt. Vernon sent East Central home, 3-0, in the semifinals. In 2019, again in a championship match, East Central came out on top 3-0.
Neither team took long to get on the scoreboard Tuesday.
With just 1:40 gone on the game clock, East Central scored the game’s first goal to give the Trojans the early lead. Shortly after they finished celebrating, Mt. Vernon tied it up.
Junior Kylie Brandes scored her team-high 16th goal of the season at the 37:09 mark, just 71 seconds after the EC goal.
“We didn’t get off to a great start, but we got right back in it,” Britt said.
In the opening period, both teams had their share of runs and good opportunities to score. Mt. Vernon goalkeeper Ava Stephenson made a big save in the 26th minute. Two minutes earlier defender Jaicee Cole made a great tackle on EC top scorer Paige Callahan, who was about to go 1-on-1 with Stephenson.
Brandes had a couple of free kick chances. EC keeper Rylee Schloss had a save on an on-goal attempt in the 32nd minute. One minute earlier, Marauder Hannah Monroe had a strong attempt go just right of the goal.
In the 33rd minute, Callahan broke the tie. She beat the MV defense, made a nice move on a defender and found the back of the net with 7:54 left in the first half for a 2-1 East Central lead.
The Marauders thought they had the equalizer. Off of a corner kick, Ellie Gawrys headed in an apparent game-tying shot, but it was ruled the ball had gone out of bounds before the try.
With a second-half lead, East Central went on the defensive and Mt. Vernon did not have a lot of great chances to even up the match.
With just 4:55 left, Callahan scored her second of the night and 25th of the season for a 3-1 Trojans advantage.
Mt. Vernon finished the season 10-5-1 and co-champions of the Hoosier Heritage Conference. It was the team’s seventh conference title in the last eight years.
The Marauders were 6-1 in conference matches, sharing the title with New Palestine.
East Central won for the eighth straight time and improved to 15-1-1. The Trojans will play in the first of two semifinal matches Thursday at 5 p.m. against New Palestine.
