FORTVILLE — Two weeks ago when the Mt. Vernon boys soccer team’s Hoosier Heritage Conference championship hopes dissipated following a penalty-kick loss at rival Pendleton Heights, the Marauders fixated on a new goal.
On Wednesday night, the host Marauders turned October aspiration into reality during the Class 3A Sectional 12 semifinals at Mt. Vernon High School.
Mt. Vernon junior Brennan La Belle buried a lightning-quick goal in the evening’s first sectional semifinal game, needing only 28 seconds to put the Marauders ahead 1-0 against HHC rival Shelbyville (8-9).
Zachary Johnson later supplied the go-ahead Mt. Vernon goal on a drop-header off a free kick by Ethan Tucker in the 70th minute that powered the Marauders to a 2-1 win and a spot in the sectional title game.
Mt. Vernon will now compete for its potential first sectional title in 3A and first overall since winning the championship in 2015 as a 2A program.
The second semifinal game on Wednesday night between Greenfield-Central and East Central stood tied 1-1 after 80 minutes of regulation before heading to overtime.
A lightning delay with 10:38 remaining in the second half halted play for nearly an hour. The teams resumed play later and after two scoreless overtime periods went to a penalty-kick shootout with East Central winning 4-3.
Both semifinal winners will compete for the championship on Saturday at Mt. Vernon High School at 2 p.m.
“This is what we’ve been saying once we had the loss at Pendleton. We said, ‘Hey, let’s make a run in October and just go,’” Mt. Vernon head coach Matt Mayhew said. “Again, the boys played well.”
Mt. Vernon (11-6) defeated Connersville, 5-0, on Monday night during the Sectional 12 quarterfinals to advance into the semifinal round on Wednesday.
Johnson converted two goals during their Connersville victory, and he added his team-leading 15th of the season with the game tied, 1-1, against Shelbyville in the second half.
With 9:26 left in regulation, Tucker was awarded an indirect free kick, around 45 yards from the Golden Bears’ goal. The defender rocketed the ball towards the box where Johnson elevated and dropped the ball past the goalkeeper.
“The hard work has paid off. From the adversity that we’ve faced with 21 guys down (due to injuries and quarantines this season), the loss at Pendleton, just getting them ready and having that mindset that we could come in here and compete, I’m just proud of them,” Mayhew said.
La Belle found his opening for his sixth goal of the season on a throw-in by senior Tyler Webb in the game’s first minute.
Webb scooped up the possession and threw an outlet pass directly in La Belle’s path as he accelerated to the box.
“That’s always my plan. I like to attack really hard, and I don’t know, I guess really wanted to get a goal,” La Belle said. “I was kind of lost, too (on how fast the play unfolded). I don’t know. It was awesome.”
The goal and Mt. Vernon’s lead stood for nearly 35 minutes until Christian Haas deadlocked the game in the 35th minute with an open-goal equalizer.
Mt. Vernon goalkeeper Bryce Glazier, who had five saves in the game, was drawn out of the box during the attack, which led to the uncontested goal with 4:08 until halftime.
“We try to say all the time, bend but don’t break. They got one in on us, and all four of (our defenders) were beating themselves up when it came to the half, but I told them, ‘Hey, we’ve relied on you all season. Let’s get it back now and don’t break anymore.’ That was their mindset at halftime,” Mayhew said. “We came out and it was a good finish.”
Mt. Vernon posted 15 shots in the game and 13 on goal with seven shots in the second half. Shelbyville, who the Marauders defeated in a penalty-kick shootout, 10-9, on Sept. 14 at home, tallied 11 shots in the game.
“We knew we had to pick up all the effort, and we knew had to get another one in otherwise it wasn’t going to work out,” La Belle said. “Earlier in the season, we went to PKs with them to finish off just a normal game, so it feels awesome to do it this way.”
The last time Mt. Vernon has reached the sectional finals was in 2019 when it lost, 3-0, to rival Greenfield-Central. Prior to that loss, the Marauders reached the finals in 2016 and they fell in a shootout, 3-0, to Greenfield-Central, which went on to win four consecutive sectional titles.
“We did what we said we were going to do,” Webb said. “We said we were going to bring it to sectional, and that’s what we’re doing. That’s our plan.”
