New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys soccer team had to rally late to force extra time, then scored twice in the additional 14-minute session to beat Mt. Vernon 4-2 and claim its first victory of the year. Jonah Smith had a brace for the Dragons. The two teams played a back-and-forth contest and traded chances throughout the contest. They played to a scoreless draw at halftime. Hector Medrano had a solid chance midway through the second half, but his long-range shot hit the crossbar and bounced down. The Dragons broke through in the 66th minute, as Noah Diaz De Leon served a ball to the net front off a deep free kick. Smith headed it into the back of the net to give the Dragons a lead. The advantage would be short-lived. MV scored off a free kick in the 73rd minute when the Dragons misplayed the ball in the box. Two minutes later, the Marauders crossed the ball in from the wing and redirected it to the back of the net to take a lead with less than five minutes to go. The Dragons were undaunted and kept pressing. A ball sent into the box spilled away from the Marauders' keeper, leading to a mad scramble of bodies for the loose ball. Smith got a toe on it to poke it inside the far-post netting to tie the game. In extra time, the Dragons carried much of the play and possession. A handball in the box gave the Dragons a penalty kick in the 82nd minute, but it missed, keeping the score level. In the second half of overtime, the Dragons' opportunity finally came, as Liam Day stepped into a second ball and rocketed a 20-yard shot into the top of the net to give the Dragons a 3-2 lead in the 89th minute. In the 92nd minute, the Dragons won another penalty and Mark Everett buried the PK to extend the lead to two and seal the victory. The Dragons are now 1-6 on the season and 1-1 in Hoosier Heritage Conference play. The victory gave the Dragons the Rob Thomas Cup. A traveling trophy contested between the three soccer-playing Hancock County schools, the cup's namesake has significant ties to the Dragons program. He is a former New Palestine coach who also helped found the NP United soccer club, who also has coached in the Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central communities at either the school or club level. The Dragons JV dropped a 1-0 decision in a 40-minute game.