Marshfield Blue Jays Soccer

MARSHFIELD – District finals, Marshfield against Bolivar, whom we have never beaten. The number six seed versus the number one seed. Our big hearts had us this far, beating the number three (Monett) and number two (Cassville) seeds. This team had captured the imagination of the city. Judging from the crowd, it seemed almost like the Lady Jays were in their heyday, playing basketball outside. The home crowd was behind the team and the play was intense from the beginning. Bolivar had several scoring chances in the first few minutes, but the defense of Jacob Twaddle, Kyle Cary, and Koty Jones, kept them at bay. However, in the 8th minute, a flip throw by Matt Magana was deflected in by Jacob Hampton for a 0-1 Bolivar lead. In the 9th minute, Robert Martin passed to Colton Harden, was shot was saved. In the 12th minute, a corner by Bolivar looked dangerous, but was cleared out by the defense. In the next few minutes, free kicks taken by Colton Harden and Koty Jones looked promising. In the 26th minute, Robert Martin was able to thwart a flip throw by Matt Magana. In the 27th minute, Colton Harden had a nice shot that was saved by the keeper. In the 30th minute, a flip throw by Matt Magana to Bradley Stillwagon looked like it was going in upper 90 back post, but was parried away by Nic Yonter. In the 31st minute, a great header by Toad Slagle was saved. In the 38th minute, a cross to Matt Magana looked destined for the net, but was again saved by the keeper. In the 40th minute, a free kick just outside the 18 by Matt Magana was smashed toward the far post upper 90, but was incredibly saved again by the keeper. The half ended with Bolivar up by 1 goal.

The second half had the same intensity as the crowd made sure their collective voices were heard. In the 44th minute, Matt Magana took the ball down the left side and passed it to Tinash Zungura, whose shot was just inches away from the outstretched keeper’s hands: 0-2 Bolivar. The Jays did not give up as an error by the Bolivar keeper in picking up a pass from his defender resulted in an indirect kick from around the PK line. In the 45th minute, Colton Harden took the kick and passed it to a waiting Robert Martin, who scored his 59th career goal, and cut the lead in half: 1-2. Two minutes later, a header by Bradley Stillwagon made it 1-3 Bolivar. In the 50th minute, a corner by Robert Martin to Colton Harden was just wide. In the 55th minute, Ryan Doolittle had 2 chances, one that was just wide and another that was saved. A free kick by Koty Jones was taken in the 60th minute, but was slightly too long. In the 66th minute, a nice service by Colton Harden to Ryan Doolittle resulted in a header that was just high. In the 75th minute, a flip throw by Matt Magana was deflected into the goal: 1-4 Bolivar. With less than 2 minutes left in the game, a flip throw by our very own Jacob Twaddle went right to Trent Burks, whose shot was inches wide. There would be no more scoring on this night, as the final score was Bolivar 4, Marshfield 1.

Marshfield keeper Nic Yonter had 13 saves, to give him a total of 384 on the season, which is FOURTH all-time in the State of Missouri for a single season. His 18.29 saves per game average is SECOND all-time in the State for a single season.

Robert Martin finished the season with 25 goals and 59 points, which gives him 59 career goals, 25 assists and 143 total points in 89 games, which is NINETEENTH all-time in the State of Missouri for a career!

Our record this season ended up being 9-14. This was the first time we ever made it as far as the district finals. Looking at the amount of people in the crowd, the amount of enthusiasm from the stands, and all you accomplished this season, each and every member of this team should be proud, very proud indeed. You grew as a team and matured as tomorrow’s leaders of our society. Yes, it is actually now “cool” to play soccer in Marshfield. The future looks so bright for the program, we should all wear shades – even at night. Thank you, young men, for such a wonderful season!!

Click Here for Additional Pictures of this Game

MARSHFIELD – Everyone who was at the game tonight witnessed history – this is the first time in the history of the program the Marshfield Blue Jays are in the district finals!! It was truly a total team effort tonight. WOW! Now backwards: !WOW

The Jays started the game with a few good chances on offense. In the 2nd minute, Robert Martin had a shot that deflected off the goalie. The 7th minute brought two chances as a nice free kick by Colton Harden and a breakaway by Robert Martin were both cleared by the Cassville defense. With 32:31 left in the half, a shot by Jesus Zermeno became an unlucky bounce that kissed the far post and bounced into the goal: 0-1 Cassville. Then with 29:00 left in the half, a ball from Justin Mills snuck into the goal to make it 0-2 Cassville. After this, the defense awoke from their short-lived funk and joined the offense in a much more enjoyable 69 minutes. In the 14th minute, a beautiful header off of a Nicholas Harden corner, by Colton Harden, was just wide. Halfway through the half, Colton Harden crossed the ball to Trent Burks, whose header was barely deflected by the goalie. In the 24th minute, a 25 yard free kick taken by Robert Martin was just high. In the 32nd minute, Ryan Doolittle served a ball to Trent Burks that bounced just high. In the 38th minute, a breakaway by Robert Martin was cleared by the defense. The 39th minute of the game brought the crowd to their feet as a ball from Colton Harden to Ryan Doolittle was smashed into the back of the net to bring the Jays back to within 1 goal: 1-2. This was also the halftime score.

Coach Clardy and Coach Friebe must have had the right inspiration during the halftime speech as the Jays were on fire when the whistle sounded. The offense did their best to create chance after chance. The defense of Kyle Cary, Jacob Twaddle, Koty Jones, and Christian Harden, made sure any scoring opportunity by Cassville was extinguished. In the 47th minute, a pass from Ryan Doolittle to Robert Martin was deflected by the defense. In the 51st minute, a shot by Colton Harden was saved. In the next minute, a shot by Colton Harden was just high. In the 55th minute, defender Kyle Cary nearly took advantage of a rare offensive chance, but his cross was slightly too long. In the next few minutes, Colton Harden had three shots that were just a tad too high or wide. As the clock kept ticking off the minutes, the very large number of Marshfield students, parents, and fans never lost hope. It just seemed like it was destined to happen. With just 9:20 left in the game, it did happen. A great cross by Robert Martin was handled by Ryan Doolittle, first with his head and then a volley into the back of the net for the equalizer: 2-2. Wanting to avoid a second consecutive district semifinal going into overtime, the Jays really turned it up. Drawing energy from the very supportive, energetic and high decibel crowd, the offense turned it up a notch. In the 74th minute, a rocket by Robert Martin was saved. In the 79th minute, a free kick by Koty Jones was on target and deflected away. Then in stoppage time, a fabulous corner by Nicholas Harden was headed into the upper 90 by Colton Harden for a history making goal: 3-2 Marshfield! Keeper Nic Yonter ended the night with 17 saves.

Wow! This game was just awesome! Final 16 teams in the state in class 2! This was not just a total team effort, not just a total school effort, it was a total city effort. The team play, the fan support, it was just fantastic! Bolivar on Thursday, at 4:30 p.m. for the district championship! The entire city and all Marshfield fans are invited – we want and need your support!

Click Here for Pictures of this Game