FORTVILLE — The opportunity was there for the team to implode. Instead, the Mt. Vernon boys soccer team relied on one another.
After losing, 6-0, to East Central in the Class 3A Mt. Vernon Sectional 12 title game on Saturday, the Marauders refused to point fingers or let anyone absorb the blame alone.
Head coach Matt Mayhew attempted to take on sole responsibility, but the team’s trio of seniors refused.
“We talk about how we win or lose, together. Today, we collectively realized we didn’t play as well as we could have,” Mt. Vernon senior Jordan Small said. “The team we just played, they’re a really good team, but we could have definitely done better. From the first 30 minutes, we played slow, and we didn’t do what we needed to do as a team.”
Small and fellow seniors Tyler Webb and Cade Costerison helped the Marauders reach the championship game with a 5-0 win over Connersville in the quarterfinals on Oct. 4, and a 2-1 victory over Shelbyville in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Webb had a key goal — his 13th of the season — against Connersville and posted an assist against Shelbyville for his sixth.
Costerison was essential on defense during the Marauders’ fourth shutout win on the year in the tournament’s opening round, and Small dished out a season-best three assists for five overall this year during the Connersville win.
“You can’t let one game define your season or your life or whatever that case may be. We made a great run. Some probably wouldn’t have thought we’d make it this far, but we battled through different things all season,” Mt. Vernon head coach Matt Mayhew said. “It just wasn’t in the cards for us today.”
East Central (15-4) earned its 19th sectional title all time and second straight in 3A.
The Trojans had to survive a 2-1 overtime win over New Palestine on Oct. 5 during the quarterfinals and narrowly escaped a shootout victory against Greenfield-Central in the semifinals on Wednesday.
In both wins, they relied on the steady offensive production of junior Joseph Roden, and he struck again against the Marauders.
The midfielder finished with a hat trick in the title game, increasing his season-goal total to 28. Roden scored both goals against New Palestine and added another against Greenfield-Central to tally six in the sectional tournament’s three games.
His first came in the 40th minute of the championship game off a free-kick chance from 20 yards out that sailed into the net to push the Trojans’ lead to 4-0.
East Central’s first goal dropped in during the third minute as Riley Smith slid through the Marauders’ defense to convert the Trojans’ first shot on goal.
An own goal made it 2-0 in the fifth minute as a kick-back to Mt. Vernon goalkeeper Bryce Glazier bounced over his out-stretched arms and trickled across the line.
Stephen Ryan-Pomeroy scored the third goal in the 39th minute to make it 3-0 before halftime.
“It’s going to sting for awhile. East Central is good, don’t get me wrong, but we didn’t think it would be a 6-0 game,” Mayhew said. “There were just a few of those little ones where it bounced wrong, and the own goal. Things like that hadn’t happened to us all season and they unfortunately came right now.”
Roden’s final two goals unfolded off a header in the 44th minute and later on a left-footed strike in the 45th.
“I kind of told them, this one is on me. I didn’t have them ready for whatever the case may be, I couldn’t figure out the solutions on it, and they all disagreed,” Mayhew said. “They accepted fault. It truly is a family thing. Nobody wants to take all the blame on themselves and nobody in that group is going to let anyone do that.”
The Marauders persevered and fell short as a family this season despite several adversities, which included the loss of 21 players at various times this year due to quarantines and injuries.
Back at full strength late this season, the Marauders (11-7) nearly clinched a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference championship with a runner-up, 4-3 league record. They also reached their first sectional title game appearance since 2019.
In 2020, the team amassed a record of 8-9-1. The year prior, the Marauders went 9-9. The last time they surpassed double-digits in victories was in 2018 at 12-6. They were once again second in the HHC at 6-1 that season as well.
“That’s the neat thing about seeing them come together as a team,” Mayhew said. “We got double-digit wins, which we haven’t had in a couple of seasons. We had a chance to share the conference title. We put ourselves in the spots to be there. Just little things didn’t go our way.”
Win or lose, the Marauders faced everything in unison.
“We’re really proud. It’s the first time we’ve made the finals in a really long time. We really wanted to win this. We played as a team and we fought together. We won together, and I’m really proud of them as a senior,” Small said. “Looking back on the younger guys coming up, it’s really cool to see what we accomplished.”
