The Southmont boys’ soccer team fell 7-0 to a strong Frankfort team in the IHSAA Class 2A Crawfordsville sectional opener on Monday night.
Gael Hernandez put the Hot Dogs on the board with a goal in the second minute and Frankfort’s offense never looked back.
“I think for us one thing we were focused on was defense,” second-year Southmont coach Stephanie Kennedy said. “A lot of the goals we tend to let happen are defensive breakdowns. We have these little flukes and let things happen that allow them to score.”
Digging an early hole hasn’t been favorable this season for the Mounties either.
“For us allowing them to score first allows us to put our heads down,” Kennedy added. “And get a little frustrated. Obviously this whole season we’ve had trouble scoring. That’s a big deal, so if we are going to allow teams to score the way we do, then we have to be able to put the ball in the back of the net and that seems to be a big struggle for us right now.”
Hernandez added a second goal late in the first half and completed the hat trick with a goal 13 minutes into the second half to make it 3-0. Frankfort’s offense didn’t stop there though, as Jose Balderas, Ethan Hudspith, Marcos Bautista Rosas, and Miguel Gabriel all found the back of the net in the second half.
The loss is the second for the Mounties against the Hot Dogs this season, also falling 7-1 in the regular season.
“We knew coming in that they were a very good offensive team,” Kennedy said. “So we did switch up some things at the end of the season, and I don’t know if that contributed, but we ended up playing a 3-5-2 to try and get our wings to drop back, and I think for a good part of that game, we were doing that and I think that helped defensively.”
Frankfort squared up 14 shots on goal in the win, compared to just a handful for Southmont.
The Mounties season comes to a close with a 2-9-2 record, despite suffering three losses by just one goal.
“That’s one thing that I keep telling them is that we went 1-0 with Crawfordsville, and that’s a big deal after a 9-1 loss last year,” Kennedy said. “Every game it’s ‘we want to play the way we did against Crawfordsville.’ That was one of the best games we’ve played for probably the last two years. We have the athletes and the ability, we just have to put a game together. From the back-end, all the way up to the front and be able to score and put pieces together.”
Frankfort improves to 8-8 on the season and will play Crawfordsville at 5 p.m. in the semifinals on Wednesday. The Hot Dogs suffered a pair of regular season losses to the Sagamore Conference champions, including a 1-0 overtime loss in league play.
