The Hornets possessed the ball very well, pinging the ball around the field, which created a number of difficulties for the Crusaders. Zach Thomas nearly put the Hornets up on a nifty header that put the Helias Crusader at full stretch.
The first goal came off a good run from Jakob Hull with a decent mix of good fortune. Hull drove the ball forward before laying off to Jake Pierce. Hull continued his run and was rewarded when the Helias defender cleared the ball right to him. He gratefully collected the ball and made a dangerous run into the box, beating one defender before being knocked down by a second. There was no hesitation from the referee in awarding the pk. Pierce calmly slotted it home to give the Hornets a crucial 1-0 lead.
Pierce would get his second goal off a restart after Trevor Neal was fouled at midfield. Darren Jones sent in a teasing ball that brought the keeper off his line, but before he could punch the ball, Pierce used his height to full effect and redirected the ball into the empty net.
As expected, the Crusaders came out of the halftime break determined to reverse their fortunes. They picked up their energy and put considerably more pressure on the Hornets. Their efforts paid off as an errant pass at midfield allowed the Crusaders to counterattack. While the Hornet defense recovered, Brian McCarty was judged to have fouled the Helias player. The penalty kick reduced the Hornet lead to one and set up a woolly final 30 minutes. Both teams would produced excellent chances to score with Howie Lee nearly scoring off a header as the best chance for Fulton. And, fortunately for Fulton, the Crusaders squandered their chances on the other end. Ultimately, though, it was the Hornet defense led by seniors Morgan Milligan, Darren Jones, and Sam Mayne who stifled the Crusaders' comeback attempt.
In the junior varsity, the Hornets faced off against a slightly older Crusaders team. Even though they lost 2-0, they played very well with good combination play across the field.
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