MOUNT VERNON – Alexa Skal attributes her jump in goal production for the Mount Vernon girls soccer team to a new formation.
Skal has eight goals for the Cougars through seven games, which is third in the Crossroads League after MVNU played seventh-ranked Indiana Wesleyan to a scoreless tie on Oct. 8 in Mount Vernon.
“We switched our formation to a 3-5-2 and it’s opening up space for forwards up top,” Skal said. “Through-balls are better. It’s my senior year, so I’m just trying to put it all out there and leave it all there. My teammates are doing a good job of finding me and we’re just playing really well together this year.”
She got her touches early but couldn’t get off a quality shot against a stingy Indiana Wesleyan defense.
As the game wore on, the Wildcats did what a lot of teams do against Skal— they double-teamed her.
“It definitely presents a challenge,” Skal said. “I see it as a sign of respect because they don’t just double anyone. I think learning to work through that has been big because last year I dealt with it, and this year it’s even more. It’s a different mindset of trying to drop back and play through-balls. It’s just a different game, but I’m still getting my opportunities.
MVNU women’s soccer coach Sarah Maracani attributed Skal’s success to work put in during the preseason.
“She came in really fit,” Maracani said. “You can tell she put in a lot of work over the summer. Living around here, we’d see her at the field. She’d be out here working on her finishing; she’d be doing a lot of the extra work that you don’t always see. I think that set her apart— especially this year.”
Maracani has also worked with the back line to set her up to be more successful.
“Our back line is really focused at finding her feet a little more,” she said. “I think that’s where (Skal) dominates more is with the ball at her feet. I think we’ve done a really good job surrounding her by being able to place balls at her feet. So I think that’s been a little bit of a difference this year compared to other years.”
Skal, a Mount Vernon High School graduate, scored 13 goals in both her sophomore and junior seasons and five goals as a freshman. But those were normal 18-game seasons.
The coronavirus pandemic has ensured that 2020 is not a normal season. The 10-team Crossroads League is playing a 13-game schedule, seeing some opponents twice.
“Playing our conference in general, 13 games (are) huge because we have a very strong conference,” Skal said. “We just played No. 7 (Indiana Wesleyan); we played No. 2 (Marian) twice— so we’ve played a lot of ranked teams. So we really just have to bring our "A" game. I think that it puts more pressure on every game, but we’re handling that pressure very well.”
The Cougars opened the year with a 7-0 win at Rio Grande on Sept. 12 in the only out-of-league game on the docket.
Still at 39 goals, Skal is just three away from tying Lisa Hinman (2000-03) for fifth all-time in goals scored at MVNU.
