GREENFIELD — All Mt. Vernon needed was one set piece to start off on the right foot.
Riley Hurst took it from there.
Earning a corner kick 4:29 into Thursday’s sectional semifinal against Richmond, the Marauders converted on the first shot of the game, a perfect header from Maddie Swingle off of Hurst’s corner, and the Marauders grabbed momentum almost immediately.
Mt. Vernon put the pressure on the Red Devils from there. Swingle almost scored again when her free kick hit the crossbar 15 minutes later as the Marauders pushed for a second goal. Cleo Mills got the winning goal three minutes after Swingle’s attempt, finding space at the top of the box and getting a shot past Richmond’s Courtney McKnew for her 28th goal of the year, with Hurst picking up another assist.
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Hurst then added three second-half goals of her own, leading the Marauders to a 5-1 win in Thursday’s sectional semifinal against Richmond.
“I moved her over to the right, kind of opened it up for her a bit,” Mt. Vernon coach Steve Williams said. “Our Rylies (Hurst and Pearson) on the outside sometimes don’t show up on the stat sheet, but their work rate and what they bring around the edge for us is huge. A lot of times they’ll assist or play balls into dangerous areas for us.”
Hurst showed up all over the stat sheet Thursday with the three goals and two assists.
“Riley’s got a heck of a foot,” Williams said. “She can hit a frozen rope when she needs to. We knew if we got her in the right position, she could hit some shots.”
With the Marauders’ second-leading scorer, senior Alexi Hardie, missing the game due to the flu, the junior stepped up in a big way in a game that featured three prolific scorers.
“Lexi’s kind of our quarterback,” Williams said. “I think the other girls just stepped up. I was just really proud of them. I kind of thought we could get Richmond. We got ‘em last year pretty good.”
Mt. Vernon’s Cleo Mills, who had 27 goals coming into the game, and Richmond’s Payton VanMiddlesworth and Nakala Bennett, who had 37 and 34 goals respectively prior to Thursday, were the big goal-scoring names playing in the semifinal. Hardie had 17 goals, while Hurst had eight in the regular season.
Mills, VanMiddlesworth and Bennett combined for two goals in the semifinal game.
With Hardie out, Hurst felt the responsibility to step up and help lead the team to another big sectional win.
“It’s definitely weird playing without her,” Hurst said. “I’ve played with her since I was in sixth grade. Every game, I’ve always had her with me. It is my job to step up when she’s not there. I’m also a captain, and I’m the only junior captain, so it’s kind of my job next year anyway. I felt like I needed to fill her position as best as I could, but honestly, nobody can really fill her position.”
The Marauders defense was strong throughout the game, allowing just one goal, moments after Mills had scored in the first half, as the sole blemish.
That goal came from Bennett, the Red Devils’ second-leading scorer. That was all that Richmond would get, though, as the backline, anchored by Katie Gawrys, Kaidlin Jeter, Ellie Roach and Maddie Swingle, shut down the Red Devils while the Marauders offense pulled away.
“Defense doesn’t get a lot of stats, but those girls in the back really sync together pretty good,” Williams said.
With the win, the Marauders advance to Saturday’s 2 p.m. sectional championship game against Franklin Central, who were big winners against Warren Central in Thursday’s 7 p.m. game.
Mt. Vernon has lost the sectional championship game the last two years. They are eager to get a chance to bring home their first title since 2015.
“It feels really good, especially because this team, this is our year,” Hurst said. “We’re all really excited, and I really want it for our seniors, for myself, for the entire team and the coaches.”