MOUNT VERNON – McKenna Brokaw and Olivia Reddy will never forget their Senior Night.
The talented pair – the only two seniors on the Mount Vernon girls soccer team – combined for all three goals, including two in the final eight minutes, to stun the visiting Zanesville Blue Devils, 3-2, on Tuesday, Oct. 5.
“I’m proud of them. That’s pretty much it,” head coach Bill Lonsinger said of his two seniors. “They’re positive and they’re leaders. They understand what’s been going on. It’s been a bad-luck season. But they’ve pushed through it.”
Trailing 2-1 at halftime, the Yellow Jackets finally evened the score in the 33rd minute when Brokaw attempted a shot from about 90 feet from the goal. The shot bent over the Zanesville keeper and fell just below the crossbar.
With barely any time to celebrate the sudden tie, Mount Vernon (3-8) struck again when Reddy took a centering pass from Brokaw and knocked the ball past the keeper for the match winner.
The Jackets scored first midway through the first half when Reddy fired a shot that squirted away from the keeper and ended up in goal.
Zanesville (6-5-2) tied the match just three minutes later when senior Allie Walker scored. At the 31st minute, Jillian Wiersma scored to give the Devils a 2-1 lead.
Zanesville never scored again, thanks in part to freshman Quinn Hardy in goal. Hardy, who was called up from junior varsity early in the season, had five saves in the second half that kept the Devils off the board and allowed the Jackets to earn the unlikely win.
“For her (Hardy) to step in like that, it was a gritty performance,” Lonsinger said. “I’m really, really happy.
“This has been a difficult season, with six of our starters out for about six weeks. The girls just dug down deep tonight. This was a great win.”
The two seniors will be gone after this season, but there are nine juniors on the roster and a number of underclassmen who were forced into service due to injuries.
“The positive is, they’ll have all that experience on varsity going into next year,” Lonsinger said. “It should be a good year.”
