Hornets Lose to Helias

Nick Heimericks came within inches of leveling the match.  Photo:  Ken McCarty

On Saturday the Fulton Hornets hosted the Helias Crusaders for a preview of the District 11 tournament.  Although the Crusaders prevailed thanks to a penalty kick, the Hornets can look forward to meeting the Crusaders again.  With the exception of the penalty kick, there was very little separating the two squads.  Given that all but one of the Crusader starters is a senior, the Hornets can be proud of how well they played as well look with anticipation to next year's series with Helias.

In a physical and contentious match, the Hornets gave as good as they got.  The contest began well for the Hornets as they generated several good chances early, mostly from outside the box.  The best chance in the first half came when Nick Seelinger forced a diving save out of the keeper to earn the corner.  Unfortunately, the promising start was cut short when Helias was awarded a penalty kick midway through the first half.  Well taken into the left corner, the pk gave Helias a 1-0 lead.  The Hornets struggled to find their way back into the match, but continued to battle and finally righted the ship toward the end of the half.

In the second half the Hornets increased their attacks on goal with several good chances.  The best opportunity came late in the match as the Hornets threw everything at the Helias goal to secure the equalizer.  Off a Fulton corner, the ball came to Nick Heimericks on the left side.  His low, curling shot "tinked" off the far post as Helias fans breathed a sigh of relief.

Cruz Gomez (l) and Ben Kucera (r) on the attack in the JV game.

As cruel as Lady Fortune was to the Hornets in the varsity match, she certainly smiled on the Hornets in the JV match.  Although both teams generated good chances, the Crusaders were unfortunate not to take the lead twice:  first, when a Helias player was left onside in the box, but sent his shot wide left and second, when a long distance shot went off the crossbar.  However, it was the Hornets who got on the scoreboard first.  In the 17th minute, Jonathan "JP" Perry sent Cruz Gomez in behind the defense.  The keeper came out well, but Gomez stayed with the play and won the second battle for it.  A quick shot into the empty net put the Hornets up 1-0.  The Hornets had a chance to go up by two, but Daniel Lair's surging run up the right-hand side was narrowly diverted before he could shoot.

The second half belonged mostly to Fulton, but before the match could end, the defense -- especially Nick Heimericks -- had to come up big.  Sam Mayne, Luke Nigus, and Cody Pae were tested several times, but rose to the occasion each time.  The Hornets remain undefeated on the season.

The Hornets return to action on Monday night at 7:00 against Marshall.  This will be the resumption of the match suspended earlier this season.  It will be a varsity-only match.

Hornets Drop Tough One to Kirksville

The Fulton Hornets lost a heart-breaker Thursday night to Kirksville giving up a goal in the 76th minute to lose 1-0.  It was a game that Fulton can rightly feel was snatched from them.  Fulton had two excellent chances to score from close range in the first half, but Jake Pierce and Peter Plakorus were unable to steer their shots past the keeper. The game winner for Kirksville came in the dying moments of the game when a free kick at the edge of the Fulton box was not properly dealt with and Kirksville was able to drive it to the right post past keeper Dan McClure.  Fulton nearly sent the game into overtime when Morgan Milligan drove into the box but his shot -- unfortunately -- was pressured and ended up going right at the keeper.

In the JV game the Hornets continued their winning ways by defeating Kirksville 3-1.  The Hornets went on top 8 minutes into the match when a corner kick from Trevor Neal found its way into the back of the net.  In the second half, Sam Mayne doubled the lead with a somewhat fortunate goal.  With the Hornets high up the field, Mayne attempted to send a cross back into the mixer in front of the goal.  A slight deflection off the leg of a Kirksville player sent the ball goalward and over the outstretched hands of the keeper.  Kirksville was able to cut the lead to one when a surging run on the left side put a Kirksville player alone in the box, where he was able to beat Nick Heimericks on the near post.  However, Fulton's Ben Kucera restored the two goal advantage with 8 minutes remaining with a cracker of a goal when he cut inside and shot from the top of the box.  His shot dipped just under the crossbar to make the score 3-1.  With the win, the JV remain undefeated this season.