Most of the current members of the Mount Vernon boys’ soccer team were still in grade school the last time the Mustangs won a playoff game.

So, the 4-1 win over Fort Madison on Tuesday, May 27, at Armstrong Field in a Class 3A substate semifinal was a welcome change.

“It feels really good,” senior Gavin Plathe said. “Especially after the tough losses I’ve had to go through the first three years.

“We haven’t won one in a long time. It feels good to get one.”

Plathe can take a lot of credit for the win, having scored a hat trick of goals against the Bloodhounds.

The first came with 8:36 left in the first half, when Plathe booted one over the Fort Madison goalie.

“It was just a great pass from my teammate,” said Plathe, giving credit to senior Mason Chizek. “Especially the first one, he placed that perfectly. I just kind of waited until I was close enough and confident in my shot and took it. But most of the credit goes to Mason.”

Just a few minutes later, Plathe got a breakaway to make it 2-0 with 5:02 to go before half.

He completed his hat trick with a goal 5 minutes into the second half, on a high arcing shot over the goalie.

“I’ve always thought I shoot better from distance than from close up,” Plathe said. “Most of my goals this year have come from distance.”

Mount Vernon added an insurance goal with 34:35 left to play when sophomore Carter Gadberry raced past the defense and deposited a hard shot across the goal to make it 4-0.

Fort Madison (8-7-1) got a goal from Kayden Hansen, denying the Mustangs their eighth shutout.

“That’s something they’ve taken a lot of pride in,” Mount Vernon coach Nathan Grosse said of the clean sheets. “Once we got to 4-nil, as much as you try to stay locked in …”

The defense did come up with big plays, especially early in the match. On a Fort Madison corner kick midway through the first half, the ball got loose and Mount Vernon freshman goalie Zion Safo was busy defending a possible header.

So junior Landon Grosse threw himself on the ground to keep the ball from rolling in for an own goal.

“I tried to get it out, and luckily I did,” Landon Grosse said. “(If we got behind 1-0) then momentum definitely would’ve shifted. But we were feeling it, and kept putting them in.”

On Thursday, May 29, Mount Vernon (7-5-5) traveled to Dallas Center-Grimes for a 3A substate final match. The top-ranked DCG Mustangs (13-2-3) proved too much for the Mount Vernon Mustangs, winning 8-0.