Hornets Win Season Opener Against Chillicothe 3-1

Perhaps it was the long bus ride.  Perhaps it was overconfidence after last year's 6-0 win over Chillicothe.  Perhaps it was just opening game jitters.  Regardless, it was a rude start to the 2011 campaign when the host Chillicothe Hornets scored less than 2 minutes into the match on Saturday.  A long throw-in, a ball allowed to bounce in the box, poor marking in the box and the Fulton Hornets suddenly found themselves staring at a 0-1 deficit.

Somewhat rattled, the Hornets struggled to connect their passes over the first 15 minutes.  While this was somewhat due to the uneven quality of the field, much of the credit goes to the swarming style of an athletic Chillicothe squad.  Their direct style of play gave the Fulton back line plenty to worry about.

Gradually the Hornets began to show their quality and play themselves into the match.  More and more of the possession went Fulton's way.  Finally, in the 27th minute Fulton got the equalizer.  Junior midfielder Jakob Hull won possession of the ball and sent a through ball to senior forward Morgan Milligan.  Cutting in from his position on the right, Milligan drove into the box.  His initial shot was saved, but his second effort and that of sophomore forward Trevor Neal put enough pressure on the keeper that he inadvertently put it into his own goal.  It was truly a text book example of a goalmouth scramble that fortunately went the Hornets' way.

A few minutes later, the Hornets struck again.  A dangerous drive by senior forward Jake Pierce into the left side of the box gave the Chillicothe defenders little option but to foul.  It could have been a penalty kick as Pierce went down under the challenge, but the referee judged it to be obstruction.  Instead of a pk, the Hornets lined up for an indirect kick in the box. After a quick touch by Chad Davis, Pierce drove a hard shot around the wall to the far post.  The defense managed to block the shot, but Neal was able to pounce on the rebound and thunder it home past the hapless keeper.

Buoyed by their 2-1 halftime advantage, Fulton came out quickly in the second half.  Scarcely over a minute into the half (@ 41:13), Jones advanced from his wingback position and sent a cross into the box.  Once again -- proving the soccer coach's admonition to never, ever let a ball bounce in your box -- the ball bounced right into the path of the onrushing Milligan, who cracked a volley over the keeper's head from ten yards out.

That rounded out the scoring, although not the action.  While both teams created chances, Fulton had the match firmly in hand as their quality on the ball began to show -- finally.

While most of the Fulton squad consisted of returning players (10) from last season, several players were able to make their varsity debuts:  senior defender Zach Hegemann, junior defender Cody Pae, junior midfielder Howie Lee, and freshman Kevin Wallace acquited themselves well.

In the junior varsity game, it was a similar opponent for the young Fulton players as they found themselves matched up against many of the Chillicothe players from the varsity match.  The Hornets played well, dominating the game until the insertion of the varsity players midway through the first half turned the tide in Chillicothe's favor.  A break away left sophomore goalkeeper Daniel Lair in a 2 v 1 and the hosts took a 1-0 lead.  Fulton nearly equalized on a break away of its own, but Kevin Wallace's well-placed shot was saved by the keeper.

Chillicothe doubled its lead early in the second half when a powerfully taken freekick sailed over the wall and just underneath the bar, leaving Lair with little chance to stop it.  The final score was 2-0 in favor of Chillicothe, but Fulton showed promise of what is to come with more experience. Every player had positive moments and with a little tweaking, the Fulton j.v. should have a fine season.

Practices this week

Practices this week will be from 3:20 to 5:30.  Ending a little bit later will give us the additional time to prepare for our first game (Saturday against Chillicothe).

2011 Season Starts on Monday, August 8th

The 2011 edition of the Fulton boys soccer team starts on August 8th.  Two-a-days will be held during that week.  On Monday, training sessions will be at the high school due to the mandatory meeting of all fall athletes at 7:30 a.m. in the gym.  Following that meeting, we will head to the practice field for conditioning and practice.

The remainder of the week will be at Morgan Soccer Park. Practices will be from 7 to 12 with a 45 minute break at 9:00.  On Friday, we will move practice to the evening so that freshman and Link Crew members can participate in freshman orientation at the high school.

Hornets Take Moberly to the Limit

Seniors Steven Maddox and Dan McClure were given quite the send-off as Senior Night proved to be an epic contest between the Fulton Hornets and the visiting Moberly Spartans on Thursday.  Tied in regulation and through two overtimes, the match went to the dreaded PK's, where the Spartans prevailed 6-5 to record the 2-1 victory.

In a hard-fought match, the Fulton defense was put to the test throughout the match, but came up time after time to keep the Hornets in a match.  Senior goalkeeper Dan McClure had the match of his life.  Without his heroics, the match could have easily been a rout in favor of the Spartans.

The Hornets were fortunate to take the lead late in the first half as the goal largely came against the run of play.  Darren Jones in an advanced position played the ball wide to Jakob Hull who crossed the ball to Jake Pierce.  His initial shot was saved, but freshman forward Trevor Neal slid in to put back the loose ball to give the Hornets the 1-0 lead.

From that point onward, it was all blue.  The Fulton offense only generated one good attack in the second half, which left the defense in desperation mode.  In the 72nd minute, the defensive dam broke as Moberly hammered home a loose ball from close in to tie the match.

Unable to settle the match in OT, the teams went to penalty kicks.  Fulton's first shot was saved, but the next four shooters were able to convert from the 12 yard mark.  As the first four Moberly shooters each made their shots, the last Moberly shooter faced tremendous pressure.  When he missed to keep Fulton alive, the shootout went into extra rounds.  Fulton's jubilation proved short-lived.  Moberly's keeper narrowly saved Fulton's next shot and then Moberly scored on its next shot to end the match.

The JV squad ended their season undefeated as their match was a 0-0 tie.

Fulton travels to Mexico and Warrensburg next week.

Hornets Avenge Earlier Loss to Hannibal

The Hornets traveled on Tuesday to Hannibal and came away with a solid 2-0 win against the Pirates.  Second half goals by sophomore Brian McCarthy and senior Dan McClure paced the Hornets to spoil Hannibal's Senior Night.

A full match report will be posted Thursday morning.

Fulton Loses Late to Marshall

On Monday night the Fulton Hornets and Marshall Owls completed their game that was suspended earlier in the season due to weather and field conditions.  The match resumed in the 29th minute of the first half with the Owls leading 1-0.  The Hornets played well in the "first half" on Monday, but really turned it on in the second half.  the Hornets tied the match when Nick Seelinger laid off a nice ball to an onrushing Nick Heimericks, who hit a first-time shot from 30 yards out that had "eyes" for the left post.  The score clearly rattled the Owls and spurred on the Hornets, who really stepped up their game.  Unfortunately, the Hornets would give up two late goals to lose 3-1.