MONTAGUE — Montague dispatched Hart Monday, 5-1, to remain unbeaten in West Michigan Conference play at 1-0-1 (4-2-1 overall).
The Wildcats’ Ava Pelton continued to be the offensive star, scoring three goals and assisting another. She put in Montague’s first two goals, both in a five-minute span in the first half, to give the team an early lead. The second of the two goals was not a shot, but the ball deflected off a Hart defender and into the net, giving Pelton an unexpected tally.
Keeper Addison Pranger delivered the first of her two penalty-kick saves later in the first half, turning aside a free shot from Olivia Bradley with 15:15 left in the first half. Montague added a third goal four minutes before halftime when the Hart keeper saved a Pelton shot, but Lilly Rice gained possession and quickly fired the ball back to the net to make it 3-0.
Hart got on the board early in the first half when Natalie Rosema rebounded Pranger’s second penalty-kick save; Rosema and Pranger collided as the former got her shot off toward the net. Fortunately for the Wildcats, Pelton quickly snuffed out any momentum gained by that goal by breaking into the open field and scoring just 26 seconds later. Angelica Garza was credited with the assist.
Abby Dyer provided the game’s final flourish with 23:09 to go, launching a long-distance shot that bounced into an open net after Hart’s keeper came out to defend the ball at the far end of her goalie box.
