MONMOUTH — Goalie Hunter Frost and forward Pat Strout spent time devising a play where Frost drop kicks the ball down the field after a restart and places it in the vicinity of Strout.

The pair gave it a whirl during Monmouth’s game against Lisbon on Monday.

Frost launched a long-distance kick that reached Strout at the other end of field. Strout moved the ball near Lisbon’s net and fired off the game-winning goal with 25:13 left in the game. The Mustangs made the 1-0 lead hold up and earned a victory over the Greyhounds in a Mountain Valley Conference regular-season finale at Monmouth Academy.

Frost (three saves) was delighted with the assist.

“Yeah, me and Pat have been talking about (the play) for a long time,” Frost said. “It happened to be our last game, so it is kind of cool. Pat has been working really hard at this and he has been finishing really well lately.”

Strout, who spent the entire game scrambling to get a goal, succeeded when his shot found the right corner of the net.

“In practice, we work on the restarts, and seeing what the defense is giving us and take advantage of it,” Strout said. “I just tried to use my body to shield (the long pass), and I just found the far corner and hit it. Fortunately, for us, it went in.

“I thought we played really hard and really well together and executed some of things we talked about, and all credit to Lisbon as well. They played us really hard.”

The Greyhounds had several chances to score, including a final shot that bounced off the left side of the post with seconds remaining on the clock.

Monmouth (11-2-1) coach Joe Fletcher described Strout’s game-winner as a “pretty goal.”

“(Strout) is a dynamic player,” Fletcher said. “He is very comfortable on the ball. He is unselfish to the point where I am trying to get him to be a little more greedy.”

Fletcher also is proud of Frost for coming into his own as a goalie.

“Well, Hunter has improved a great deal,” Fletcher said. “When Hunter first started as a keeper, he couldn’t put the ball beyond midfield, and now he is (sending the ball) three-quarters a way.”

Fletcher added that playing Lisbon (9-4-1) is always challenging.

“It seems like every time we play Lisbon, it is a one-goal game, a tight game, a hard-fought game,” Fletcher said. “I just liked the tenacity and the attitude that we weren’t going to give up quality opportunities.”

Lisbon goalie Levi Tibbetts made seven saves.

Despite the loss, coach Shawn Rhoda was proud of the Greyhounds’ effort.

“I was telling my assistant coach I thought we were still going to score there,” Rhoda said. “I liked our chances. It is just frustrating losing these close ones. This one was for a lot of (Heal) points. It is important that we are playing hard (and) fast for the playoffs.  I am happy how my guys played.”

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