The Hornets got off to a quick start. The game was played on the artificial turf of the Hannibal football stadium, which suited Fulton just fine. The passing was crisp and the Hornets mounted several early attacks on the Hannibal goal. Unfortunately, a free kick deep in the Hornets' end resulted in a penalty kick as a Fulton player was whistled for a push in the box. Hannibal converted to make it 1-0 barely six minutes into the game.
To their credit, the Hornets kept their composure and continued to knock the ball around the field. Their reward came in the 22nd minute. Jake Pierce took a Zach Thomas flick, out-muscled his defender, and drove into the box. As the keeper came out, Pierce deftly tucked the ball just inside the right post to level the score at 1-1.
In the second half, the Hornets came out ready to play. In the 43rd minute, the Hornets went on top after a nice passing sequence at the top of the box. Trevor Neal settled a long pass and squared it to Jakob Hull, who one-touched it to Pierce. Pierce laid it off for Neal on the overlap, who drove into the left side of the box. His cutback move to the inside gave him enough room to unleash a powerful shot that proved too much for the Hannibal keeper as the ball went through his hands. The keeper dove in an attempt to recover the ball, but in vain.
Thirteen minutes later the Hornets struck again to make it 3-1. Pierce took a pass around midfield and curled back to his left. His well-placed chip found Zach Thomas on the right side of the field. Thomas used his speed and a change of direction to get into the box and practically "baited" his defender into the foul. The defender really had no choice. Either chop him down or let him in alone on goal. On the ensuing penalty, Pierce calmly powered his shot past the keeper.
With the game seemingly in hand, the Hornets appeared to be on course to cruise to victory. However, the Pirates made matters interesting in the last five minutes. A hand ball on a Hornet player on the edge of the box resulted in a free kick. The wall failed to do its job and left the near side of the goal exposed to the powerfully-driven shot. Goal, Hannibal. An inexplicable (trust me, we asked for an explanation, but it still made no sense) red card with a minute remaining then reduced the Hornets to 10 men. Fortunately, the Hornets were able to run out the clock and take home the victory.
In the JV game, the Hornets and Pirates battled to a 0-0 tie. The Hornets played good, attractive soccer with several nice passing combinations. Man of the match honors must go freshman keeper Jared Strough. Alone on a breakaway, he not only made himself huge, but he came up with a huge save to preserve the tie.
The Hornets travel to Mexico on Saturday morning.
