NEW PALESTINE — Coming off of their biggest game of the season, a letdown was always on the table for New Palestine.
At home on Monday night that’s exactly what happened.
After breaking Hancock County rival Mt. Vernon’s 19-game Hoosier Heritage Conference winning streak last Wednesday with a 1-0 win, the Dragons (5-3-1) came out flat at home, and lost to Center Grove (3-4) by that same score, 1-0.
“For sure, 100%,” New Palestine head coach Erin Clark said about the Mt. Vernon win playing a factor in the flat start on Monday. “But Center Grove is a really good team. We’ve played them the past few years and this is the lowest we’ve lost by. They’re just a very, very good team, so that had a lot to do with it as well.”
For all but about 10 minutes, the Trojans controlled the pace, and possession and dictated the flow of the game.
In the first six minutes of the game, Center Grove offensive runs led to three corner kick attempts, but each time they were thwarted.
The Trojans first clear look on net came at the 30-minute mark, but New Palestine goalkeeper McKenzie Hacker made her first save of many on the night moving to her right.
Over the next 10 minutes, the Trojans attempted one more corner, had a shot go just over the top bar, and had another clear look on net. Center Grove’s Taylor Beier made a run down the left side of the field and fired a shot toward Hacker, who made a jumping save.
Eventually, the relentless attack by the Trojans paid off. A steal in the midfield by Center Grove’s Ella DeWitt led to her assisting Taylor Townley on a breakaway towards the net. Townley beat a diving Hacker for the game’s lone goal.
“We couldn’t keep up with their speed or the movement of the ball,” Clark said. “We just weren’t able to keep the ball either. As soon as we would win it we would give it right back. They were just too fast for us.”
The Dragons first shot attempt came with just 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
Out of the half, though, the Dragons came out quicker and more physical in the midfield and controlled the ball for the opening 10 minutes.
A free kick at the 32-minute mark by Tylar Whitaker was the Dragons best scoring chance, but it went just over the top bar.
Following the Whitaker attempt, the Dragons dropped back into their first-half ways.
“We had to pressure the ball. We were letting them make all the decisions in the middle of the field. We had to find ways to keep the ball too,” Clark said. “That was working great and then their pressure picked up because they realized that they needed to do that and when they pressured us at that speed we just put our heads down and weren’t able to connect and find balls.”
A diving Hacker save on a shot by Center Grove’s Addie Crowe with just under 30 minutes kept the Dragons down just one, but the Trojans offensive attack wouldn’t let up.
Later in the half, the Trojans hit the post twice, had a cross into the box just miss an attacker cutting towards the net, had multiple corner attempts narrowly miss, and forced Hacker to make constant saves.
Unofficially, Hacker saved 11 Center Grove shots. Since returning from a concussion suffered against Westfield on Aug. 21, she shut out Mt. Vernon last week and held the Trojans to one goal on Monday night.
“She [Hacker] is not a goalkeeper, and she’ll be the first to tell you that. She’s a field player,” Clark said. “But being short on keepers we’ve asked her to fill that role and she’s been great back there. She’s a great leader, talks, moves, and just made some great saves for us tonight.”
The Dragons will look to bounce back Wednesday when they travel to Greenfield-Central.
