Burlington, IA- Mt. Pleasant has rattled off 23 victories over the last two years, including 15 victories in Southeast Conference (SEC) play. A tie against Fort Madison last Thursday had clinched it but a 1-0 victory over Burlington last night made it official that the Panthers had become back-to-back SEC champions.
The Panthers have had a flair for the dramatics at times this year in conference play with three games that ended in one-goal victories and the aforementioned tie. Last year, the Panthers strived for a stingy defense to allow for the offense to find the goal enough times to secure the win.
This year, the offense has led the charge. Behind an offense that averages five goals per game, it has allowed for their defense and goalie Xachary LeBlanc not have to be challenge as much as he was a season ago. It also helps that the senior between the pipes has stopped 85.2% of the shots he has faced, a three percent increase from last year.
Another aspect of this team that cannot be understated is Dylan White. The senior led the team in goals and assists both his freshman and sophomore seasons, then tallied 15 assists last season to lead the team. White has been an absolute menace on the pitch this season as his 32 goals and 82 points lead the state and his 18 assists rank 3rd in the state.
Now, the Panthers will try to rewrite history. In 2013, Mt. Pleasant won the conference and qualified for the state tournament; last year, they fell in the substate championship to Williamsburg, 3-2, after winning the conference title.
Nonetheless, this will be their toughest road to travel. Mt. Pleasant will end the regular season with a road matchup against newly ranked in Class 1A #10 Burlington Notre Dame, who just knocked off Class 2A’s #5 Williamsburg 2-0 this past weekend, on Thursday, May 14th.
Then the Panthers will have to navigate the Class 3A postseason bracket instead of the Class 2A bracket from a year ago. At the time of publication, Mt. Pleasant is ranked 16th in the Class 3A Bound Power Rankings; yet, for head coach Rocco Russo, no one can stop his team if they are in the right mindset,
“… once positive stuff starts falling, then it’s like the floodgates open and we start playing our soccer. We need to just start the game like that. We need to start with the mentality of we’re the big fish in the pond and we’re going to go get it.”