FORTVILLE — The storylines were abundant on Wednesday night.
From the Mt. Vernon girls soccer team celebrating senior night to Marauders’ team captain Shay Shipley’s commitment announcement to Northern Kentucky during pre-game to the Hoosier Heritage Conference traveling bell trophy being on the line.
Nothing was ordinary, but the host Marauders kept their composure for 80 minutes, even after they lost starting goalkeeper Riley Britt, a senior, to an unfortunate knee injury with 26 minutes, 37 seconds left in the game.
The final score, 3-2, over rival New Palestine made the night nearly perfect for the Marauders (6-1-1, 3-0), who won their third straight HHC game, until the visiting Dragons handed over the bell trophy to Shipley.
The Marauders swarmed Shipley, initially, on the sideline as she seized the hardware, but she was determined to reach Britt, who was sitting in a nearby cart with ice wrapped around her right knee.
“She’s everything you can ask for in a senior captain and to have her get (the bell) on Senior Night against New Pal, she deserved every minute of holding that bell up for our team,” Shipley said. “She’s a great captain and a great friend.”
Shipley had Britt and her teammates’ backs against the Dragons (6-2, 2-1 HHC), scoring a pair of goals and filling in at goalkeeper through the final 12:23 with one save recorded.
“I was hype (watching her in goal). I was clapping and cheering. I love her to death, and it should be her to fill in because she’s a leader like that” Britt said.
“We talked at the beginning of the season that we wanted to play as a team and get it done, together. Everything is together. This year was about a new coach, new environment, being positive and helping each other. I think that’s translated to the field.”
FINAL: GSOC – Mt Vernon 3, New Palestine 2 @HHCConference @mvmarauders @NPHSDragons @GDRsports
The HHC Bell returns to Fortville and goes directly to MV senior goalkeeper Riley Britt from Shay Shipley. pic.twitter.com/NOzwM6H54s
— Rich Torres (@RichTorres23) September 9, 2021
The Marauders needed one another on Wednesday night as the Dragons came out fast, taking a quick 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal by Anna Luker in the third minute.
New Palestine, which opened the season 4-0, defeated HHC foe Yorktown, 6-1, last Thursday to claim the conference bell. Last year, the Marauders lost hold of the trophy in an uncharacteristic defeat to the Tigers.
In nearly a year’s time, the bell has passed through the hands of three schools, and it came full circle back to Fortville.
“It’s everything. Last year, we were devastated to lose it because we hadn’t lost it in a long time. We lost the conference last year, too, and we lost it,” Shipley said. “We lost two in one, so we knew coming in tonight, Senior Night and the bell on the line, we had to get a big win.”
Shipley’s first goal, a header off a Kylie Brandes’ corner-kick set piece, turned the momentum early on, just 40 seconds after Luker’s goal.
The Marauders’ second goal came from Brandes on a laser shot from 20 yards out that sailed past New Palestine goalkeeper Grace Hasenkamp, who had 12 saves.
Mt. Vernon was on the defensive in the first few minutes of the match before it went on the attack to finish with 24 shots compared to New Palestine’s eight.
“We’ve been playing really well. I’m not sure I could have asked anything more of the girls in early September. We looked very good for early September,” New Palestine head coach Erin Clark said.
“We talked about that all week. We have to score first. They did it, and that was great, but set pieces. We talked about that all week, too. You don’t want to give them set pieces. We didn’t give them a lot of free kicks, which was what we were trying for, but we did give them a few too many corners, and obviously, they capitalized on that first one.”
The Marauders’ third goal was more traditional as Hannah Monroe assisted Shipley’s second with 3:50 remaining until halftime.
“There was a lot going on. It’s not normal, so you’re kind of out of your routine, and then emotions are high on top of that, so it was a little scramble for both teams the first five minutes, but then after that I felt we settled down,” Mt. Vernon head coach Aaron Britt said.
“We bounced back with three goals and dominated possession. That’s more normal, so it felt good. The second half was the same story until Riley went down in the middle of that play, which was the result of that second goal.”
Riley Britt attempted to shadow New Palestine’s Tylar Whitaker as the Dragon penetrated the Marauders’ defense and cut in front of the net. As Britt tried to turn back to face the attacker, her leg gave out and she fell to the ground.
Whitaker scored uncontested in the 53rd minute to cut the deficit 3-2. Shortly afterwards, Riley Britt was carted off the field and never returned.
“It means so much to get the bell back where it belongs,” Riley Britt said while fighting back tears. “There was no losing it. It was messy, but we got it done.”
The Marauders’ defense held on while Shipley saved the Dragons only true threat down the stretch, a shot on goal by Luker with 15:28 left on the clock.
“Oh, my heart dropped,” Shipley laughed about her save. “Then, I went to punt it and I looked at Lily Wilson and said, ‘Uh, I can’t punt.’ And it rolled on the ground when I kicked it. I was like, ‘Well, at least I got the ball.’”
More importantly, she got the trophy and shared the moment with her friend and teammate.
“It was awesome. That kind of represents to me who we are as a team. It’s all for each other. It’s not individual people,” Riley Britt said.
