FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon midfielder Zachary Johnson nearly had a hat trick on Monday night that was unluckily thwarted by the crossbar late in the second half.
But, he wasn’t too disappointed by the ball just missing its intended target.
Instead, the junior was more concerned with the host Marauders’ defense, which came out primed during the Mt. Vernon Sectional 12 quarterfinal round against Connersville.
“The offense was pretty important, but the clean sheet, I think, was more important. The defense doing its job to keep a clean sheet helped us get those five goals up front,” Johnson said.
The defense clamped down on the visiting Spartans (8-8) and limited them to 12 shots overall compared to Mt. Vernon’s 31, as the Marauders won 5-0 to advance into Wednesday night’s semifinal round.
Johnson finished with two goals, striking in the 29th and 44th minute, while four different Marauders (10-6) buried at least one goal to secure Mt. Vernon’s third straight win.
The Marauders’ last loss was at Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Pendleton Heights in a shootout on Sept. 23, which has ignited the team’s drive now that October soccer season has arrived.
“After we lost to Pendleton, we realized that we have to get stuff going for sectional because we want to make it all the way through. We upped everything in practice and we took it with a focus and an urgency,” Johnson said.
The key on Monday night was taking the team’s philosophy to heart, and the Marauders backed it by establishing a 2-0 lead in the game’s first 15 minutes and a 3-0 advantage by halftime.
Cade Costerison lined in the first goal with a laser shot in the 11th minute, and Nicholas Heitman made it 2-0, roughly four minutes later, off a well-placed corner kick by Jordan Small.
“We’ve been talking defense ever since Pendleton, and we talked about it afterwards. ‘If you do get that goal, what do you do that next five minutes?’ And, tonight, we stayed on them,” Mt. Vernon head coach Matt Mayhew said. “We were able to get another one within three or four minutes, so that what we’ve been kind of preaching. Stay focused. Don’t let down just because you get an advantage.”
Against Pendleton Heights during their HHC finale, the Marauders led 1-0 before the host Arabians tied the game shortly afterwards, forcing overtime and an eventual shootout that Mt. Vernon lost, 3-1.
The lesson was learned following Mt. Vernon’s third shootout this season.
Despite being up, 2-0, Johnson had one intention when he was rewarded a free-kick opportunity in Spartans’ territory with 10:23 remaining in the first half.
“The plan was to get it in the goal, so I say, it went as planned,” Johnson said. “I was just trying to hit it into at least in the back of the roof of the net because I saw he off his line a little bit and wasn’t focused.”
Johnson’s second goal increased the lead 4-0 in the second half, and an assist from Griffin Rumineer to Tyler Webb in the 57th minute setup a header goal and a 5-0 margin.
Webb’s goal marked his 13th on the season, while Johnson now paces the team with 14 goals. Eight different players have recorded at least one goal for the Marauders this fall, which is impressive given their season-long circumstances with COVID-19 quarantines and injuries.
“We knew we had it, but we hadn’t proved it yet. Tonight, we really talked about getting it and getting our momentum. Hopefully, we can ride that through,” Mayhew said.
“At one point, we were down 21 guys, and we finally have everyone healthy and are finally starting to click a little bit. I think, Pendleton was the first game we had everybody back, but the timing was off a little bit. But, this is what you’re playing for. This is October and sectional and time to see what you can do.”
Mt. Vernon goalkeeper Bryce Glazier had five saves for his third shutout this season. He has 128 saves in 1,336 minutes.
“The defense played very well with Bryce, obviously, in net. But, Ethan (Tucker) and Dawson (Wagner) in front of him did a lot to challenge shots from farther out, so he wasn’t put under pressure a lot,” Mayhew said. “He still made some good saves, so it’s good for our defense to get that.”
The Marauders will face HHC foe Shelbyville (8-8) in the first semifinal game at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The other semifinal game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday with the winners from today’s games advancing.
Mt. Vernon defeated the Shelbyville Golden Bears in a shootout, 10-9, on Sept. 14, after leading the game, 1-0, early on.
“We have to go in with the same drive that we had tonight and that we’ve had in all the games that we’ve won,” Johnson said. “We just have to keep our heads down and try for the same scoreline as we had today.”
Mayhew wouldn’t mind avoiding another penalty-kick situation, if possible.
“I have too many gray hairs as it is,” Mayhew joked. “We don’t need anymore (shootouts). (Shelbyville coach) Ben (Purvis) is going to have his guys ready. They’re always well organized, so we expect another tough, dogfight. That’s what you get when you see them in conference and see them again in sectional. You just get ready and hopefully you can play our game and execute that way.”
