NEW PALESTINE — A successful penalty kick in regulation helped Mt. Vernon extend Saturday’s Class 3A Sectional 12 girls soccer championship into overtime.
But, in the end, it was the penalty kicks that put a close to another strong season.
Tied 1-1 after regulation and two seven-minute overtimes, the 20th-ranked Marauders lost on penalty kicks (3-2) to No. 18 East Central in the title match at New Palestine High School.
“We’ve been on both sides of that over the years, multiple times,” Mt. Vernon coach Aaron Britt said of games being decided on penalty kicks. “It doesn’t ever really feel good to win that way and it doesn’t, obviously, feel good to lose that way either. It’s tough. I really couldn’t be more proud of the girls and how they continued to fight.”
Mt. Vernon sophomore Kylie Brandes helped extend the match by connecting on a penalty kick with 8:30 left in regulation. The Marauders had been given a PK try after East Central was called for a foul just inside the penalty box.
In regulation time, there were strong attempts on both sides but neither team scored in the first 60-plus minutes of regulation.
Mt. Vernon had a strong first half attempt after a pair of corner kicks in the 22nd minute. Mattie Isger had a deflection off one that was on goal and saved by East Central goalkeeper Rylee Schloss.
Marauder senior goalkeeper Khloe Patterson had a number of key saves in both halves.
In the second half, East Central took the lead on a set play. Off a corner kick by Alexis Watkins, Ellie Hill headed in the kick to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead with 17:36 left.
Following Brandes’s PK, both teams had chances in the final minutes of regulation.
Patterson batted away a try from Olivia Hopper with just over two minutes remaining. Patterson leaped to her left and knocked the ball away with her left hand.
A yellow card on the Trojans in the final 30 seconds gave Brandes a try on a free kick, but the attempt left the game tied and headed to overtime.
To start the five rounds of penalty kicks to decide the championship, Schloss saved a Brandes attempt. Caitlyn Dick connected on East Central’s first attempt.
Isger — though Schloss got a piece of the ball on a dive to her left — found the back of the net to tie it. It remained tied after two rounds when Patterson, lunging to her right, stopped an attempt from Addyson Arnult.
Schloss opened the third round with a diving save on a try from Hannah Monroe. The Trojans, as they did earlier following a Schloss stop, scored. This time it was Hill.
Mt. Vernon’s Elise Gawrys tied the PK session 2-2 with a shot in the upper left corner of the goal. East Central regained the lead, 3-2, with a successful attempt from Hopper.
In the fifth and final round, Mt. Vernon’s Addison Wong’s shot sailed high and East Central was able to celebrate its second straight sectional championship.
“It was a tough game all around,” Britt added. “We kept saying coming into it, we’re pretty similar in style. They do have really good overall team speed, playing a lot of girls, keeping pressure on. It took us a little while to adjust to that and get our legs under us. When we did, we were dangerous.
We had a couple balls roll around the goal line, couldn’t put them in … We made a lot of plays, just didn’t come out on the right side.”
The Trojans defeated the Marauders in last year’s final, held at Greenfield-Central.
The loss put an end to another outstanding Mt. Vernon season.
The Marauders were ranked in the Top 20 most of the season and were right at No. 20 in the final Indiana Soccer Coaches Association poll.
They finished the season 11-6 overall and 7-0 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference. The program has won 47 of the last 49 HHC games and six of the last seven conference titles.
The losses during that span were a 2020 defeat to Yorktown, at home, and a 2017 loss at Pendleton Heights.
The Marauders have dominated competition in the area, too. They’ve won 18 straight matches over Hancock County rivals Greenfield-Central and New Palestine. The last loss was in 2016 in the sectional tournament against the Cougars.
Mt. Vernon should have a strong team next year, too. They graduate only four players, Patterson, and subs Mariam Konate, Rachel Lorsung and Isabelle Hernandez. Patterson is the only starter that does not return.
“To get here and put that performance on and have your chances … We’re definitely going to miss our seniors, but the majority of our starters and a couple girls that are on the fringe of the starting lineup are all coming back,” Britt said. “It’s encouraging, looking forward. It just ended – like almost everybody’s season is going to – not the way that you wanted. It’s tough.”
East Central (15-3-1) will host a regional semifinal match Thursday against Cathedral (11-4-4).
