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| Where are the Pirates? Sam Mayne heads clear as (from left to right) Morgan Milligan, Nick Seelinger, and Steven Maddox look on. |
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| Darren Jones attacks the Boonville goal as two defenders attempt to assist their keeper. |
Fresh off their Camdenton Tournament championship, the Fulton Hornets traveled to Boonville on Tuesday and turned in a dominating performance against the Pirates. While Boonville was able to limit the damage in the first half, only surrendering one goal, the Hornets peppered their opponent's goal throughout the game and exploded for five goals after the break.
The Hornets got off to a good start, scoring off a free kick in the 7th minute when Jake Pierce hammered a low shot from the edge of the box. While the Hornets would not score again in the half, it was not for want of commitment to the attack. The Hornets got off 14 shots in the half with nine different players recording shots.
The second half was again one-way traffic in the direction of the Boonville goal. Pierce scored twice more to record the hat-trick and Zach Thomas picked up two goals to lead the Hornets' offensive explosion. In the 48th minute, Pierce dribbled to his right across the box and fired a low shot back to the far post. Pierce then turned provider in the 54th minute when he sent a curling cross to Peter Plakorus who was alone on the doorstep for the easy tap-in to make 3-0,
With the Pirates' sails flagging, the Hornets went for the kill. Two goals in two minutes signaled the Hornets cut-throat mentality. Pierce completed the hat-trick when he pounced on a poor clearance at the top of the box. His shot squirmed under the diving keeper to make the score 4-0. A minute later Darren Jones played Zach Thomas through for a short-range shot to make the score 5-0. Thomas added a second goal moments from time when he headed down a cross from Plakorus. Following in, he sent the ball to the far post to finish out the scoring.
The defense performed ably and limited the Pirates to only a handful of half chances to help earn keeper Dan McClure the shutout.
In the junior varsity game, the Hornets showed some rustiness after not having played in several weeks. The best chance of the first half belonged to the Pirates when a defensive miscommunication put a Boonville player in alone on the keeper. Nick Heimericks did well to stand his ground and was able to tip the point-blank shot over the bar for the corner. In the second half, Fulton generated a number of good chances, the best coming off a Cruz Gomez shot that he scuffed wide of the post. The game ended in a scoreless tie, keeping the Hornets unbeaten streak alive.
Fulton returns to action on Thursday night when they travel to take on Marshall. Marshall has only lost once this season, a 0-6 loss to Rock Bridge.
