MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon boys soccer team kept pecking away at the defensive wall of River View on Monday. The Yellow Jackets threw a barrage of shots at the Black Bears before finally breaking down the wall with four goals in the second half in a 5-0 victory at Yellow Jacket Stadium.
“The kids played well. I hate to say it, but it was almost like a clinic,” said Mount Vernon coach Scott Dapprich. “Our kids have been taught not to play to the level of what they are playing. But to raise a notch and then maybe a second level. I was really proud of that tonight.”
The Jackets (1-0) had plenty of opportunities in the first half, finally scoring at the 28:49 mark when Chris Ingersol scored on a beautiful header off a pass from Trent Kiger.
“We probably should have scored two or three goals in the first half. We had good opportunities. Their keeper made a great save on one that I really thought was a goal. We were knocking on the door and they’re not a team that’s going to roll over,” Dapprich said.
“Coach (Brock) Evans made a great comment to the guys at half. He said, ‘Guys, this team’s not going to roll over. We’re going to have to kick them over. We’re going to have to make sure we get a second and a third.’”
Mount Vernon broke through at the 34:00 mark of the second half on another nice header — this time by Chris Israel on a pass from Clint Eutsey.
“We scored on a lot of crosses and headers, which, honestly if you had asked me, ‘were we going to score a lot of crosses and headers,’ I probably would have said, ‘no I don’t completely think so.’ That hasn’t been one of our complete strengths. But I will say this, the guys were at crucial spots and points where they need to be. And tonight, when they were there, they had opportunities and they capitalized,” said Dapprich.
“I’ve talked to the guys about being able to have a vision — to see the player and hit their target guy and kind of initiate with a fire that was going to bring our attacking third into the mix. You got to see that tonight with five goals.”
Mount Vernon broke the game open for good midway through the second half when Nick Sahr dribbled up field and fired a shot through the goalkeeper’s hands and into the net. Kyle Henthorn followed with a goal off an assist from Eutsey and Travis Kiger scored on a header off a pass from Henthorn.
“That just says a lot about your team (having five different guys score). A lot of times you go in and say you really need to stop these two or three people. I think that’s what I really like our team chemistry and how we handle ourselves. Because we play so well and our players are so interchangeable. When you can do that, you’re looking for different opportunities where there might be a slight weakness where your guy might have a strength,” Dapprich said.
While the offense was rolling, it was the play of the defense that really made Dapprich happy.
“When we lost the ball, we put high pressure on the ball. The pressure just spoke a lot because they made a few passes and by that time it was us making a stick or them making a bad pass and us stepping into the passing lane. I was very pleased,” he said.
On the night, Mount Vernon outshot the Black Bears 16-5. Goalies Alex Dunnavant and Chris Omahan combined for five saves.
The Mount Vernon junior varsity team also rolled to an 8-0 victory over the Black Bears. Seth Badger led the Jackets with three goals and two assists. Josh Beougher added two goals, while Dan Eddy had a goal and an assist. Cameron McMahon assisted on two goals, while both Ben Miglin and Miles Kahrl had a goal.
The Jackets will now host Bishop Watterson on Saturday. The jayvee kick things off at 10 a.m.
