Mt. Vernon’s Sydney Jones fights for the ball against Noblesville during Thursday’s sectional semifinal match at Noblesville High School.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
NOBLESVILLE — Playing in possibly the toughest sectional in the state, Mt. Vernon knew things wouldn’t be easy.
The Marauders entered the postseason ranked No. 16 by the Indiana Soccer Coaches Association, but with sectional realignments this year, they were put into a bracket with the top two teams in the state – No. 1 Hamilton Southeastern and No. 2 Noblesville.
While the draw was favorable, giving Mt. Vernon the bye, a meeting with either the Millers or Royals was inevitable.
On Thursday, in the semifinals of Class 3A Sectional 8, that matchup happened.
The Marauders were defeated 5-1 by the second-ranked Millers at Noblesville’s Hallmark Orthodontics Soccer Complex.
“The team we just played and [Hamilton Southeastern], if on opposite sides of the bracket would end up in the state final. We didn’t expect it to be 5-1, but we just did some stuff that was uncharacteristic,” Mt. Vernon head coach Aaron Britt said. “They put you under a lot of pressure, they’re athletic and they’re very intentional and direct, which is a different style. I’m never happy to lose, but this is a team you can look at and just say ‘yeah, they beat us.’”
An injury to Mt. Vernon midfielder Nahia McNamar early in the first half made things even tougher than expected, and the Millers took advantage, jumping out to a 3-0 lead by halftime.
Just under eight minutes into the game, Noblesville senior midfielder Atley Pittman opened the scoring, and five minutes later, Lily Ault scored to put Mt. Vernon in a near impossible hole to come back from.
Coming into the night, over 15 games, the Millers had yet to allow two goals in a game, had 10 shutouts and had only given up a total of five goals all season.
“Losing Nahia that quickly doesn’t help,” Britt said. “We did a good job of containing the superstars, but all over the field we just didn’t quite get there.”
With 14 minutes left before the break, Noblesville’s Kendall Kramer scored to push the lead to 3-0.
The Marauders sent two shots on net in the first half but had limited offensive opportunities with the Millers controlling possession.
That continued early into the second half.
Less than four minutes out of the break, Meredith Tippner scored for the Millers and at the 27:13 mark, Delaney Stone made things 5-0.
“In my opinion, they’re just more difficult to defend than a team like HSE because they are very direct and intentional,” Britt said. “They’re always going at it and they have athletes everywhere. It’s just a different look than a lot of teams.”
Shortly after the Stone goal, Mt. Vernon senior Kylie Brandes sent a free kick on net but was denied by Noblesville goalkeeper Gabby Alicea.
Later in the half, Mt. Vernon senior Talaya Broaders broke free on net, but Alicea came running out for the initial save and the Marauders follow-up attempt went over the crossbar.
With five minutes to go, they finally broke through on a goal scored by coach Britt’s daughter, Reagan.
A senior defender, Reagan was part of a strong class of 2025 that brought success year after year to the Mt. Vernon program. She, along with Brandes and forward Hannah Monroe all started or played meaningful minutes since their freshman seasons.
In their four years on the team, the Marauders won four Hoosier Heritage Conference titles, three outright, and compiled a HHC record of 27-1. They ended this season with a record of 9-4-3.
“It’s hard. Just having them all four years and having so much success. They’re all leaders in some respect. When you have a group that is contributing for a long period of time and leading the girls, it makes my job a lot easier and it’s something that I’m extremely thankful for. It’s not always normal to have the players that are contributing at a high level, be great leaders and teammates,” coach Britt said. “It’s going to be difficult, but Reagan is going to play at Taylor University and I’m super excited for her and to see that, and Kylie is going to play at Austin Peay, so some of them have more soccer in front of them. That’s encouraging and I’ll still get to see them play, but it’s tough to see them walk away.”
