FORTVILLE — The 2024 season for Mt. Vernon has revolved around one word – respond.
How would the team respond when they fell behind in a game? How would the team respond after a loss? And how would the team respond in conference play this year after dropping a conference game last season?
All questions that head coach Aaron Britt had entering the season, and all questions he’s had answered.
Over the past three days, the response by the Marauders has been about as good as he could have hoped for.
After dropping back-to-back games 1-0 to No. 11 Center Grove and No. 12 East Central, Mt. Vernon, ranked No. 18 in the 3A poll, bounced back with a 5-1 win over Delta on Saturday and capped off their perfect 7-0 conference season with a 4-1 win over Pendleton Heights on Monday to win the outright Hoosier Heritage Conference title.
Against the Arabians, that need for a response came early.
Less than five minutes into the game, Pendleton Heights’ Courtney Prickett curved a perfect shot into the top right corner of the net past Mt. Vernon goalkeeper Ava Stephenson to put the Marauders behind 1-0.
Goals at the 15:14 mark and the 14:30 mark of the first half put Mt. Vernon back ahead before the break.
“That first goal was the biggest one. The lead is important because that’s why we’re here, but for me, it’s that first goal. It’s like ‘okay you had a misstep, now how are you going to respond.’ We’ve had games like that all year, so seeing that flip and seeing the girls respond is the most important thing to see as a coach,” Britt said. “You don’t want heads down and you don’t want the girls getting down, you want them to respond. It’s all about can you come out and execute and if you take a knock, how are you going to respond.
“Last year it was a whole game, this year it was that early goal. The mentality has been that everybody is going to be coming for you, so how are you going to respond, and the girls have done a great job with that.”
Junior Taylor Bastin tied the game for Mt. Vernon on a low shot that curved around multiple Pendleton defenders and into the bottom right corner of the net.
Forty-four seconds later, senior Kylie Brandes put the Marauders ahead for good.
“Falling behind was definitely a shock, but we knew that we had it. We were in their half for most of the first half and we controlled the game. Our adrenaline started going faster and once our confidence went up, we knew we could get it,” Brandes said. “We needed that breakthrough. Taylor did it 40 seconds before and that just got our energy up.”
The first goal by Brandes was all that was needed for the win, but two minutes into the second half she added some insurance.
On a throw-in from fellow senior TaLaya Broaders into the box, Brandes found space in front of the Arabians net for a tap-in goal.
“The message before the game was that we knew what we were capable of doing,” Britt said. “It’s not about any other team, and that’s nothing against Pendleton, it’s just about us because we know the level that we’re capable of playing at. We know the intensity of effort that we are capable of playing with.”
Kat Simmons outran the Arabians defense and scored in the closing minutes to cap off the 4-1 win and close out the undefeated HHC season for the Marauders.
The perfect conference record was one of the team’s top goals entering the year after losing to New Palestine last season.
“Last year we had a bit of a misstep, so we had a chance to refocus. This year, the goal was to win all these games, and it’s a fight every time you come out here. Pendleton is getting better every year, and so is every other team. It gets more and more competitive, and you’ve always got to come to play. That was our focus these seven games,” Britt added. “This year the ladies did a great job. It wasn’t a perfect conference season, but they did a great job of coming together when they needed to and getting results.”
While the season wasn’t always a perfect one in Britt’s eyes, on paper, it was about as good as expected.
The early goal by the Arabians on Monday was the only time the Marauders trailed in conference play and over the seven games, they outscored their opponents 40-4.
Leading that charge has been a strong senior class who celebrated Senior Night on Monday.
Fittingly, they ended their career on their home pitch with another victory.
As freshmen four years ago, they came into the program following a season in which the Marauders lost the conference for the only time in the past nine years.
Since then, Mt. Vernon has won four titles, three outright titles, and has a HHC record of 27-1.
“The seniors have been huge. My daughter Reagan being a part of it and then Kylie and Hannah [Monroe], those three have been here all four years. All three started or played a lot of minutes as freshmen,” coach Britt said. “They know what it takes and how difficult it is.”
For Brandes, winning four straight titles has been special.
“It’s been an amazing experience with the best team. Four straight, so really happy about that,” Brandes said. “We knew going into the year how bad we wanted it and we got it.”
The Marauders close out the regular season at top-ranked Hamilton Southeastern on Wednesday.
