MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets jayvee B soccer squad put up a solid defensive effort to stop the visiting East Knox Bulldogs varsity in interconference soccer action, 3-1. The win avenged an earlier loss to the Bulldogs.
Mount Vernon had only eight shots on goal, but made them count. Sam Miller and Seth Badger found the net for the Jackets in the first half. Most importantly to Mount Vernon coach Brock Evans is that every player on his roster got to play a significant number of minutes.
“East Knox played well,” said Evans. ”They’ve got some speed. They are utilizing it and their touches are definitely improving, also. I wish the program well, because it’s going to come along.”
Jacket goaltender Ben Miglin, meanwhile, had five second-half saves, to shut down the Bulldogs, whose lone score came on Michael Hedrick kick in the first half.
“We’re getting down there,” said East Knox coach Geoff Green of his offense. “We’re not finishing. We need to be able to finish and put it in the back of the net.”
The only score of the second half occurred when Mount Vernon forward Dan Eddy’s shot hit the bottom of the crossbar and barely got across the goal line. Travis Kiger led the Jackets with a pair of shots on goal. Meanwhile, Hedrick had a total of three shots on goal for the Bulldogs,
For the Jackets at this level, it was good news that seven players had scoring opportunities and everyone on the roster got to see at least 12 minutes of game action.
“It’s fun,” said Evans. “The kids enjoy it. Good competition. It’s just good for the community. We had three different people score. It’s a team thing. As long as they improve and have fun, that’s what it’s about. They’ll improve if they get the chance to play.”
Meanwhile Green, whose team is plagued by slow starts, is pondering how to get the Bulldogs to gear up in the first half of games.
“I thought that, once again, we had a game where the second half was better than the first half,” said Green. “We’re taking too long to get into the game. I enjoy playing a team like Mount Vernon. I just wish we could get into it quicker.”
