The last week for Kayleigh Yaeger and Munster has been about refocusing and having fun.
The Mustangs succeeded in achieving those interconnected ends with Tuesday night’s 3-0 Northwest Crossroads Conference win at Andrean.
In the de facto conference championship game, Munster (11-3-1, 5-1) clinched its third straight title by defeating the 59ers (10-3-1, 4-2).
After breaking through last season to repeat, this one meant a lot to Yaeger, a senior defender.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “There was a curse last year that we broke and to add on to it is an amazing feeling.”
The Class 2A No. 12 Mustangs needed to regroup after last week’s loss in penalty kicks to rival Highland.
It admittedly stung Munster coach Valerie Pflum.
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“Highland came out and wanted the game more, and we learned an important lesson,” she said. “We refocused and figured out what we needed to do to play good soccer.
“After we lost to Highland, I was at a loss about what to do.”
The players instituted a no-talking rule in practice and during pregame warmups.
“If we talk too much, we don’t stay focused,” Yaeger said. “Not talking helped us focus on what we needed to get done in practice and play as hard as we could.
“We haven’t played like this in the last couple weeks and it’s a great feeling. Now we look like a team that wants to win.”
The Mustangs also started to have fun again. They played handball during part of practice. They celebrated senior night Thursday. They lost at No. 1 Penn on Saturday, but acquitted themselves well.
“They realized that soccer’s fun when they work their butt off,” Pflum said.
The Class A No. 6 59ers suffered their only previous conference loss to Lowell in penalty kicks. They put considerable pressure on themselves to win the conference title, especially with 11 seniors. But coach Jeff Clapman looked at the bigger picture with the postseason upcoming.
“Munster played as Munster plays,” he said. “They’re a tough side and we know that. For as much as we want to be a thorn in their side, they’re a thorn in our side. They deserved to win.
“It was good to fight through something like this, get a little adversity and clear our minds a little bit and refocus on what’s coming up next week.”
Munster took a 1-0 lead with 18 minutes left in the first half when Saveda Majety headed home a corner kick from Addy Andello.
The Mustangs made it 2-0 on a disputed goal with three minutes left in the half. Priscilla Carvajal’s shot deflected off the hands of 59ers goalkeeper Kate Mulshine. After a brief conversation between the referee and a linesman, the ball was confirmed to have crossed the goal line.
“I don’t know if it went in or not, but it doesn’t matter,” Clapman said. “They called it in.”
Andello added a goal with four minutes left in the game.
“Conference, sectionals, regionals — those are the given goals every year,” Pflum said. “You just always want to play better.”
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