MOUNT VERNON — A goal in the fifth minute of play was enough for the Tri-Valley Scotties to hold off the Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets on the soccer pitch on Saturday.
Tri-Valley added two late goals in the final minutes to secure a 3-0 win.
The heat of the day — it was 95 degrees at start time — combined with the high humidity made it virtually impossible to chase the ball for 80 minutes without frequent subs. Unfortunately for the Jackets, they had just two players available to sub, and one of them used up her eligibility by half time.
“We have to share our players with the jayvee team,” said Mount Vernon assistant coach Htut Zar. “We were really short of players today.”
One of Mount Vernon’s top players, Chelsie Hayes, was the most aggressive player in the first 15 minutes but then had to leave the game, unable to breathe. She returned in the second half and continued to be the central force in the Jackets’ attack, but by then, her teammates were spent.
In a possible attempt to conserve energy, the Jackets were simply not aggressive up front in the first half. Forwards were constantly outmanned by Tri-Valley defenders and didn’t get a single shot after Hayes left.
Tri-Valley’s early goal came when freshman Layne Hartnell took a pass from Amber Godfrey and snuck a quick poke past goalie Hadleigh Rundell. It was a rare lapse in a defense that, for the most part, kept Tri-Valley away from the goal. When they did get through, Rundell was superb, collecting six saves.
