Fulton Takes Down Helias, 2-1

Fulton traveled down Highway 63 on Saturday and took down the Helias Crusaders, the #8 team in the state in class 2, on Saturday.  Two goals by Jake Pierce paced the Hornets to the 2-1 victory in Jefferson City.

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.

Fulton Takes Down Kirksville, 6-0

It was a good night for Fulton as they traveled to Kirksville on Thursday night.  Kirksville was behind the proverbial 8-ball from the outset as they were without the services of their team leader, Jan Fanning, due to a red card in their previous match.  (His consolation was that he was carded - his second yellow - for taking off his jersey in celebration of scoring the game-winning goal against Mexico.)  On the Fulton side of the ledger, Jake Pierce had a career night with a hat trick with Trevor Neal adding a brace and Zach Thomas adding a sixth to make it a fairly miserable night for the Tigers.

The Hornets opened the scoring early. In the 2nd minute, Pierce took advantage of a loose ball in the Kirksville defense and drove through the box before spinning and firing a low shot past the keeper.

Seven minutes later, Zach Thomas doubled the lead off a corner kick from Chad Davis.  A well-taken kick to the back post found Thomas well-defended, but he was able to beat his marker to the ball and head it into goal.

The score would remain 2-0 for a while, but the crisp ball movement would break the scoring open with Fulton scoring three times in a span of five minutes.  The first would come in the 28th minute when Jakob Hull put Pierce in alone on the Kirksville defense.  Pierce calmly finished past the onrushing keeper.

Forty seconds later, Fulton struck again.  Davis was found alone on the right off a restart by Morgan Milligan.  A couple of touches and a good ball to the danger area between the 6 and 12 put the Kirksville keeper in a difficult situation.  He came out well, but a challenge from Pierce kept him from punching the ball clear.  Trevor Neal was the first to react and poked the loose ball into the open net.

Fast forward four minutes and Kirksville was picking the ball out of their net again.  This time Milligan put his  free kick from midfield to the top of Kirksville penalty.  The defender accidently headed it toward his own goal.  Pierce reacted quickly and touched it over the charging keeper and tapped it into the empty net for the hat trick.

Trailing 5-0 going into the second half, Kirksville could have crumbled, but did well find its shape defensively, giving up only one goal in the second stanza.  The Hornets scored in the 51st minute on a good switch from Davis' right back position.  The defender failed to decisively clear the ball and a grateful Neal took full advantage.  Neal steamed to goal and megged the hapless keeper.

Fulton would continue to press, but good goal-keeping and the kindly intervention of every keeper's best friend (the woodwork) kept the score at 6-0.  On the defensive end, Fulton played very well with Sam Mayne picking up the shutout.

In the junior varsity game, it was a tale of two halves.  Kirksville opened up a 2-0 lead before goals by freshman Cody Baumgartner and junior Kelsey Nunley tied it at 2-2.  Baumgartner got on the end of a long punt by sophomore keeper Daniel Lair to tap it past the keeper.  Nunley used his speed to get around Kirksville's right back and drive to the near post.  His right-footed blast surprised the keeper, who was unable to keep it from slipping through his hands and into the goal.  Unfortunately, Fulton than gave up a third goal to allow the Tigers to take a 3-2 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the Tigers used their speed to put three more goals on the board.  While not the showing one hoped for, the Hornets moved the ball well.  In addition, freshman keeper Jerod Strough produced a superb save on a penalty kick.

Fulton blanks Marshall, 3-0

The Hornets hosted Marshall last Thursday and came away with an important victory in the conference and district race.  Although the Hornets won by a comfortable 3-0 margin, it was a tightly contested match with the outcome not certain until late in the contest.  Marshall possessed the ball well and created a number of dangerous chances, but lacked the finishing touch on their chances.

Jake Pierce opened the scoring early in the second half.  In the 46th minute, he received a ball from Morgan Milligan.  He drove to the right side of the Marshall box and drove a hard shot to the far post that beat the keeper.

Darren Jones added a second goal in the 65th minute off another assist from Milligan.  He turned and struck a long, speculative shot that caught the keeper off his line.

The final goal came in the waning moments of the game.  Pierce sent an inch-perfect ball behind the Marshall defense for Zach Thomas.  Thomas cut along the endline and roofed the ball into the upper 90 at an acute angle.

While certainly not at the same level of importance, Thomas' goal was reminiscent of the classic goal scored by Landon Donovan in the 2010 World Cup match against Slovenia:

In the JV match, the Hornets fell 2-1.  After falling behind 1-0, Cody Baumgartner scored a cracker of a goal on a nice settle and finish from the top of the box to level the score.  After going behind again, Matt Henry nearly found the equalizer on a nice shot from distance that hit the post.

Camdenton Tournament

Fulton returned to the Laker Shootout as the defending champion but were unable to defend their title going 1-2 for the weekend.  While somewhat disappointing, the Hornets faced a somewhat uphill battle, with a banged up back line and playing against two class 3 teams in Ozark and Francis Howell.  On the plus side, several players got significant playing time with the varsity, which should pay dividends later this season and next year.

Fulton - Ozark (2-3)

The Hornets opened against Ozark on Friday afternoon on the turf of Camdenton's football practice field.  (By the way, if anyone needed proof of the inequities of Missouri's system of school financing, they need look no further than Camdenton High School.  The only element missing from this "Taj Mahal" was a reflecting pool.)  Fulton started well and raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first 25 minutes.  Zach Thomas scored on a ball that the Ozark defense inexplicably allowed to roll in the box, poking it past the surprised keeper.  Jake Pierce added another off a solid attack from the right that brought the ball across the box and Pierce hit a well-placed shot from just outside the penalty area.

Ozark stepped up its intensity and, frankly, the Hornets did not respond well to the physical play.  Ozark got a goal back shortly before half-time when Ozark sent an aerial ball into the box.  Keeper Nick Heimericks seemed to have it in hand, but a hard challenge knocked him off-balance and the ball went into the net.

In the second half, the Hornets had two early chances to score as Pierce narrowly missed tucking the ball inside each post.  However, the Hornet attack somewhat fizzled in the second half and the newly configured Fulton back line (Morgan Milligan moved to keeper in place of the banged-up Heimericks) was heavily pressured by Ozark.  The pressure paid off as Ozark scored two goals in the second half to complete their comeback.

Fulton - Francis Howell (0-3)


On Saturday morning, Fulton faced off against Francis Howell from St. Charles.  The Vikings were a very strong side (they moved very well off the ball and had a number of Academy players) and struck for two first half goals against Zach Hegemann, who started in goal for the first time this season.  In the second half, the Hornets put together some very nice passing sequences in the midfield, but were unable to translate this into chances in the final third.  On the defensive front, the Hornets gave up a third goal under the relentless pressure.  While the Hornets were disappointed to lose, it was a "good loss" in that the team learned a lot from the experience, namely that we need to be dynamic in our movements on offense.  We also learned that Caleb Lee and Cody Pae are very tenacious man-to-man defenders.

Fulton - Osage (2-0)


In the final game of the tournament on Saturday afternoon, Fulton took on fellow district member Osage.  Both teams were feeling the effects of two games in less than 24 hours and the tired legs showed.  While the Hornets would ultimately win comfortably with a 2-0 victory, the Osage Indians can feel hard done by the result as they actually created the better chances to score in the first half.  Thankfully, keeper Sam Mayne was up to the task and kept the match scoreless.

The offense finally got on the board in the waning seconds of the half in a somewhat controversial play.  The play began when the clock was stopped after an Osage player went down hurt.  As he had committed a foul, the restart was a free kick to Fulton. So far, so good.  Unfortunately for Osage, the clock operator accidentally reset the clock.  Unable to set it to 10 seconds, the referee decided to keep time on his watch.  On the restart from the midfield side line, the ball came through the box and apparently out of danger,  But, giving proof to the adage "play to the final whistle," Jakob Hull picked up the loose ball and crossed where Darren Jones pounced on it to score with a left-footed volley.  Did it take more than 10 seconds?  According to the referee it didn't.

In the second half, Zach Thomas added a second off a header.  The play began off a good switch when Jake Pierce sent a ball out wide to freshman forward Kevin Wallace.  Wallace drove to the corner and then crossed.  Both Pierce, Thomas, and the Osage keeper all converged on the ball, but Thomas won the battle and headed it into the empty net to round out the scoring.

Moberly takes down Fulton, 0-2

Fulton hosted Moberly on Sept. 27th in the first skirmish for the conference title.  It was a fairly even contest between with both teams creating good chances to score.  Unfortunately, it was the visitors who prevailed on the strength of two first-half goals.  The first came off a back door run that wasn't picked up and the second was on a fluky play where a through ball went untouched and found the back of the net.

There was no JV game as Moberly doesn't have a junior varsity squad.

Fulton Nips Mexico, 1-0

Fulton took on a solid Mexico squad on the road today and came away with a 1-0 victory.  The win moved the Hornets to 7-3 on the season and 5-0 in the conference.

The Hornets took the field with a somewhat different look today.  Zach Thomas took on the challenge of marking Mexico's Christian McKeown -- who scored 19 goals as a freshman last year -- and so the Hornets played in a modified 4-4-2.  In addition, the Hornets were without the services of two midfielders, so Chad Davis moved into the center of midfield and Luke Nigus stepped into Davis' spot on the backline.

Despite the new configuration, the Hornets took to it well and took control of the match from the opening whistle.  Throughout the first half, superior ball control and solid passing combinations allowed Fulton to mount numerous attacks on the Mexico end.  However, the narrow field and an organized Mexico defense meant it was difficult to find the space to get behind the Mexico back line.  The Hornets were content to try their luck from distance with their best chances coming of free kicks.  Meanwhile the defense did well in containing the Mexico attack, limiting them to just three chances that never really tested keeper Nick Heimericks.  The half ended 0-0.

In the second half, the Hornets again had the better chances, but seemed content to play long, hopeful balls to the forwards rather than using a short passing game to unlock the Mexico defense.  Ultimately it was a little bit of good fortune and hustle that provided the game winner in the 16th minute.  Chad Davis cut inside from the wide midfield and unleashed a powerful shot that was partially blocked.  The deflection spun goalward and was headed in, but the scrambling keeper was able to just push it onto the bar.  A couple of Hornets crashed the goal with Trevor Neal getting the decisive touch to knock it over the line.

In the JV game that followed, Mexico was forced to rely on several varsity players to round out their depleted roster.  Still the Hornets did well, especially the defense.  While Hadi Katish and Jonathan Perry performed well in the center of the defense, tracking back to snuff out numerous breakaways, the real hero was Daniel Lair.  Playing almost as a sweeper/keeper, he was called upon to come out of goal several times to stop solo runs from the Mexico attackers, often nicking the ball away just in time.  Unfortunately, a defensive lapse allowed McKeown to strike a beauty of a shot from outside the box that found the upper 90 to win the shortened game for Mexico.

Fulton will host Moberly on Tuesday night in a contest between the two conference co-leaders (both teams are perfect in conference action).  There will be no JV game.

Hornets Take Down Hannibal, 3-2

The Hornets traveled to Hannibal on Thursday night and came away with a 3-2 victory.  Two goals by Jake Pierce and another by Trevor Neal paced the Hornets to the victory, which moved them to 4-0 in the conference.

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.