Fulton Loses to Marshall; JV Wins Again

The game in a nutshell:  Marshall rises high above Fulton.

It was a tough outing for the Fulton Hornets as they went on the road to Marshall.  Marshall, which has only lost one game this season (to Columbia Rock Bridge), showed their quality early.  In the second minute, Marshall scored on a blast from Jon Najera.  The shot from well outside the box took an unfortunate deflection off Morgan Milligan and went just inside the left post to give the Owls a 1-0 lead.  The Hornets nearly equalized moments later when Peter Plakorus put Zach Thomas in alone on a charging keeper, but Thomas was unable to keep his shot on target. Marshall then doubled their lead in the 10th minute when Erik Moreno slalomed through the defense for a point blank shot.  There was nothing that Dan McClure could do to prevent the goal.  In response, Fulton mustered a few shots but nothing to really trouble the Owl's keeper.  Najera scored his second goal in the 29th minute when the Fulton defense did their best imitation of Greg Louganis.  As they dove in, Najera used their momentum against them and cut through the heart of the defense for an easy score for the 3-0 lead.  Demonstrating that defense is a collective responsibility, Fulton's defense woes continued when the midfield failed to track a Marshall defender into the box. When the danger was recognized, it was too late as Ebert Alvarez rose to meet a cross from the left and easily headed it in to hand the Hornets a 4-0 half-time deficit.

Fulton showed a little better in the second half, but it must be said that that was partly due to the Owls taking their foot of the gas.  Chad Davis and Darren Jones each got off solid efforts from distance that resulted in corner kicks.  The defense stepped up its efforts as well to put immediate pressure on the Marshall attackers, which paid dividends as the dangerous chances for Marshall largely dried up.  Fulton was able to secure a late consolation goal when Jake Pierce struck a freekick from just outside the box.  His shot sailed past the keeper to the upper right corner to make the final score 4-1.

It was a completely different story in the junior varsity as the Hornets won 1-0.  The Hornets came out prepared to play from the opening whistle.  The dual-rostered players proved a calming influence as Fulton dominated possession in the attacking third.  Ben Kucera and Jakob Hull paired up nicely in the midfield and along with the defense (Sam Mayne, Luke Nigus, Daniel Lair, and Cody Pae) were able to launch numerous attacks on the Marshall goal. Unfortunately, the Hornets faced a very good keeper in Isaac Phillips, who stopped shot after shot.  In the second half, the Hornets continued to press for the win.  Sam Mayne came up from his defensive position to crack a hard shot off the crossbar and moments later, Jakob Hull tagged a shot upper 90 but was foiled by the keeper.  The breakthrough came with just five minutes to play when Sam Mayne sent in a hard low cross from the right.  Scott Strough ran onto it and kept his shot low to finish past the keeper to give the Hornets the victory.  With the win, the Fulton JV remain undefeated this season.

The Hornets play next on Monday in Warrensburg.