Mount Vernon High School

The Mt. Vernon boys' soccer had a busy weekend taking part in the River City Classic tournament hosted by Bosse High School at the EVSC Fields. The Wildcats kicked off the weekend with a game against Boonville on Friday night. The first half of the game was a back and forth battle through the first half but neither team scored. Senior Max Hamrick had several big saves and junior Hunter Watzlavik selflessly stepped up on defense and played a solid game. In the second half Boonville buried a deep free kick to take the first lead of the game. Mt. Vernon had chances throughout the second half but never found the back of the net. Boonville added a second goal in the closing minutes to win the game 2-0. The Wildcats didn't have much time to dwell on the loss because they returned to action Saturday morning against Evansville Day School. Although Mt. Vernon controlled the pace and flow of the game from the very beginning Day School capitalized on a Mt. Vernon mistake to score a goal and take the lead into halftime. After halftime the Wildcats again controlled the game and finally broke through with a goal of their own. Senior Kyle Lindenschmidt found the back of the net off of a free kick for his first goal of the season. That goal opened the floodgates for Mt. Vernon. Over the next twelve minutes the Wildcats scored three more goals. Junior Mason Higginson added his first goal of the season on a long run through the entire Eagle defense. The third goal was added by freshman Brock McNeece on a great volley assisted by fellow freshman Zane Johnson. Junior Hunter Watzlavik finished the scoring with a goal of his own, this one also assisted by Johnson. Mt. Vernon won by a score of 4-1. The weekend ended with a final game against the Pike Central Chargers. The Cats moved the ball at will early on and Johnson almost added his first goal in the opening minutes. Soon the heat and the schedule caught up with the Cats. Pike Central scored the opening goal midway through the half. They added a second a few minutes later. Pike scored a third goal off a penalty kick to take a 3-0 lead at half. After the half they added a fourth goal to end the day's scoring. Thanks to the heat and the amount of games many young players got extended playing time in the third game. Sophomore Maddux Henson played solid in the goal backing up Hamrick. Sophomore Isaac Hamilton also played a solid game on defense for the Cats. The Wildcats will play again on Monday, also against Pike Central, at home at 5:30.