LINDEN — How sweep it was for North Montgomery soccer on Saturday as the Chargers were able to sweep a girl/boy double-header against South Vermillion.
The wins for both the girls and boys teams were the first on the young season as the girls dominated from the opening whistle and cruised to an 11-0 win. The boys on the other hand saw a very physical game and a tough battle against the Wildcats. But in the end one goal was all they needed as the boys earned a 1-0 win.
Girls get fun-fueled first win
Every single player for the North Montgomery girls soccer team saw playing time in their 11-0 win over South Vermillion.
The Chargers scored four goals in the first 10 minutes of the game and at the half, held a commanding 8-0 lead. Kayla Hoffman got the Chargers on the board first with a goal just one-minute and thirty seconds into the game. Then it was time for Teegan Bacon to assert herself in the goal-scoring. In just a 17-minute span, the new all-time goal scorer for the Chargers proceeded to score five goals to give the Chargers a 6-0 lead.
When all was said and done Bacon ended with those five goals, Hoffman scored two, and Madison Vance, Justice Bartlett, Ava Nunan, and Caidence Hutson all added one each as the Chargers picked up win number one on the season.
“This was an overall fun confidence builder for us,” Charger coach Julie Hodges said. “Most of our offensive players either scored or assisted on a goal, we played everyone that was healthy enough to play, and even had players off the bench come in and score. The big thing for us was that some of our young players who normally don’t get to experience this much playing time, saw a ton of time and that will only make our bench deeper when we know we’re going to need those girls.”
The result on Saturday was much different than the 5-1 season-opening loss to Greencastle in many ways. Through the last couple of practices leading up to Saturday Hodges was really working with on improving the mistakes her team made in that game to the Tiger Cubs.
“We really worked on 3-4 things to try and improve on and we feel like we did improve off some of those things that we struggled with against Greencastle,” she said. “There’s still work to be done in those areas because if we make those mistakes in the conference, it’s going to hurt us.”
Next up for the Chargers will be their Sagamore Conference opener on Monday when they host long-time rival Danville, the team that ended the Chargers season last year in the sectional. Hodges knows that this game will be one of the toughest challenges her team will see all season.
“They’re Danville so they’ll always pose a serious challenge to us,” she said. “Hopefully we can carry the momentum from this game into there because it’s always fun heading into those games with a positive attitude. Danville is a game where you have to play perfect in order to win.”
Boys see physical match result in win
North Montgomery coach Tristian Hall had a good feeling coming into Saturday’s game against the Wildcats. The game shaped out to be a physical contest with bodies flying and both teams going all-out to try and bring home a win.
The first 40 minutes saw both teams with chances to break the scoreless tie, but neither could break through. Then to begin the second half, just five minutes in, senior forward Xavier Montalvo crashed the goal after a free kick by the Chargers and headed the ball into the back of the net for what would be the game’s only goal. North Montgomery would walk away with a 1-0 win and Hall was proud of how his team continued to show fight for a full 80 minutes.
“Our guys really brought a great level of intensity to this game,” he said. “Our front line pressed the entire game and played great. We as a team also preach mental toughness. It doesn’t matter if our opponent is going to be physical, we have get up and not let it effect us. If we let that physicality get to us then we lose focus and the worse the game is going to be.”
While Montalvo might be senior, he’s still new to the Charger program as this is his first season with the team and at North Montgomery. Despite him being new to the program, Hall has loved what Montalvo has brought to the team in his first year.
“Xavier brings in the confidence, physicality and intensity that we’ve needed,” he said. “He’s a living proof of the mental toughness that we preach and his goal was just a straight effort goal. He was in the right spot because he had the effort. That’s one thing I try and tell our kids is you bring the energy, effort and intensity, the results are going to come.”
The boys improve to 1-2 on the season and will be back at home on Tuesday when they welcome North Putnam.
