By Cameron Baker
For the Daily Reporter
A battle of high-powered offenses ensued when Mt. Vernon’s girls soccer team took on East Central in a battle of two top 20 ranked teams in the state.
However, neither team was able to find the back of the net as often as they’re used to as East Central defeated the Marauders 1-0, giving the Marauders their second loss both on the season and in a row.
East Central (11-1-1) showed why they have scored 63 goals on the season when Maria Mayer found herself wide open in the Marauders box, after a pass from Ava Leihgeber in the sixth minute, for an easy goal that she slotted into the bottom left corner.
Shortly after, East Central again threatened to score until a shot that ricocheted off both posts saved the Marauders from going down 2-0 within the first 10 minutes of the game.
“We’ve been playing them for a long time. Everything they do is a little bigger, a little longer ball being played which is fine. But it was just a frustrating game,” Marauders coach Aaron Britt said.
Leihgeber continued to have a great game, often being both the center of the offense and the anchor of the defense for East Central.
The Marauders (7-2-3) struggled to play themselves into the game due to a mix of quick passes from East Central and losing the physical battle, as East Central swept up nearly every 50-50 ball. For much of the first half, the Marauders were defending and looking for long passes to get them into the offensive third with little success, as they would not get their first shot until the 27th minute of the game.
The Marauders continued to be a step behind coming into the second half as East Central began an onslaught of shots on the goalkeeper, Ava Stephenson. Luckily for Stephenson, the only one that posed any real threat hit the top of the post and went out of bounds.
After fending off East Central, the Marauders seemed to take a page out of their opponent’s book, looking for the short passes more often than looking for the through ball. But it proved to be a mix of both short passes and long balls that would spur an inspired 10-minute stretch halfway through the second half where the Marauders had more chances than in the entire first half.
Unfortunately for the Marauders, East Central’s defense was more than up to the challenge as they would hold on to the lead they had for the entire game.
“We just didn’t do the stuff we normally do. We never really got into it. They’re an athletic, fast team. We had to be ready for that and be able to share and move the ball. And tonight, we just couldn’t get it done,” Britt said.
The Marauders next game is at Delta High School in a Hoosier Heritage Conference matchup Saturday at 10 a.m.
