Marshfield Blue Jays Soccer

KICKAPOO STADIUM – It is always a pleasure to welcome a new soccer program in the area. Not only did the Jays play Republic for the first time in history, they were able to play at Kickapoo Stadium, and share in the excitement of the Inaugural Senior Night for Republic. Well, this will certainly turn into the kind of rivalry we have with Republic in other sports. Hats off to your effort tonight, Tigers!

The Jays offense was revved up from the beginning of the game. In the 4th minute, an attack was cleared for a corner, which was taken by Clark Campbell. In the 6th minute, a pass from Clark Campbell to Colton Harden resulted in a shot that was just high. In the 7th minute, a long range shot by Koty Jones was wide. In the 8th minute, a promising pass from Clark Campbell to Colton Harden was cleared by the defense. In the 14th minute, a superb volley pass by Colton Harden to Ryan Doolittle resulted in a breakaway opportunity, but was pushed wide. In the 19th minute, an awesome run into the penalty box by Calvin Birsa was shut down at the last second by the defense. In the 25th minute, Christian Harden, who was all over the field throughout the game, almost beat the goalie on a nice through ball. In the 27th minute, Christian Harden had a hard shot that was barely off target. In the 28th minute, a rocket by Colton Harden found the back of the net for a 1-0 Marshfield lead. In the 33rd minute, a free kick taken by Christian Harden looked destined for another goal, but was saved by the keeper. In the 38th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Clark Campbell became a chip that landed on top of the net. In the 39th minute, a free kick from Colton Harden was a hair too high. The first half ended without any further scoring.

The second half had almost as much offensive excitement. In the 43rd minute, Clark Campbell took a corner. In the 45th minute, Christian Harden took a corner. In the 47th minute, a free kick off of the foot of Christian Harden was slightly too powerful. In the 48th minute, Joseph Huber took a pass from Colton Harden, but had the defense clear the ball away. In the 50th minute, a pass from Koty Jones to Ryan Doolittle was shot just a little high. In the 56th minute, a free kick by Colton Harden became a dangerous cross, but it was cleared away by the defense. In the 58th minute, a free kick by Clark Campbell was sent in the direction of Colton Harden, who shot it on top of the net (second one of the night for the Jays). In the 62nd minute, a through ball to Trent Burks was nicely played, but saved by the goalie. In the 70th minute, a beautiful pass from Trent Burks to Ryan Doolittle, who as at the mouth of the goal, could not quite be punched in. In the 73rd minute, a header by Calvin Birsa looked good, but was just slightly wide. DJ Hensley and Josh Hyde were particularly active in preventing many of the Republic attacks from becoming shots, allowing only 4 balls to be shot at Keeper Nic Yonter. This was the fourth shutout of the year for Yonter and the defense. The game ended with the final score: Marshfield – 1, Republic – 0.

The J.V. also had a solid game, but with a slightly different outcome. Goals were scored by Republic in the 11th and 14th minutes. Opportunities by Trent Burks, Zack Robbins, and Nicholas Harden did not come through as the half ended without any other scoring. In the second half, there were offensive chances by Joseph Huber, Calvin Birsa, and Lucas Cheeney. In stoppage time, a free kick taken by Joseph Huber found the back of the net to cut the deficit in half. Keeper Austyn Hyder had 5 saves. Final score: Republic -2, Marshfield – 1.

A very impressive showing for first year program Republic. Welcome to the pitch. Our next game is scheduled for Monday, October 4th, at 4:30 p.m. in Camdenton. Our record is now even again at 6-6, for only the second time in our history.

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MARSHFIELD – Tonight the Jays played the Class 1 runner-up last year, and perhaps the best team in the state in any class, when Springfield Catholic came to town. Playing a player down for over 60 minutes, playing without a second starter for the entire game, playing with a third starter that was rather gimpy – all against a team the caliber of Catholic – is not a Betty Crocker recipe for success. Goals were scored in the 4th, 6th, 13th, 18th, and 29th minutes to make the halftime score was 0-5.

The first 13 minutes of the second half were scoreless. Even with only 10 men on their side, the Jays fought hard and had several scoring chances. In the 43rd minute, a chance by Colton Harden was cleared away by the defense. In the 47th minute, Koty Jones took a pass from Clark Campbell, but the shot was wide. In the 52nd minute, a pass from Clark Campbell to Colton Harden was shot just wide. Catholic scored their 6th goal in the 53rd minute. In the 57th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to a running Joseph Huber was slightly too long. In the 64th and 67th minutes, 2 more goals were scored. In the 73rd minute, a slight bit of contact outside of the 18 somehow became a PK call, which made the score 0-9. A pass from Colton Harden to Calvin Birsa, who was waiting at the far post, almost became a goal. Keeper Nic Yonter ended the night with 20 saves. The game ended in the 80th minute, 0-10.

The J.V. game, with 35 minute halves, had a similar result. Goals were scored in the 9th, 12th, 18th, 32nd, and 34th minutes. Hunter Heape had a nice clear off of the line. The first half ended 0-5. In the beginning of second half, Kyle Wilson had a nice clear off of the line. Goals were scored in the 38th, 42nd, 51st, 61st, and 62nd minutes. The last goal ended the game at 0-10. Keeper Austyn Hyder had 11 saves.

Our next game is this Thursday, September 30th, at 5:00 p.m. {RECENT CHANGE} against Republic, at the KICKAPOO HIGH SCHOOL STADIUM.

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2010 BOLIVAR LIBERATOR SOCCER CLASSIC – The Marshfield Blue Jays played in the 5th place game today against the Clinton Cardinals, after two narrow defeats to soccer powerhouses Warrensburg and Greenwood. Even though they had played 5 road games in a span of 6 days, there was no fatigue evident on the field as the Jays dominated from beginning to end. In just the 3rd minute, a nice chip from Colton Harden was knocked away for a corner. Clark Campbell directed the corner kick to Colton Harden, who headed it in for an early 1-0 Blue Jay lead. In the 5th minute, Ryan Doolittle had a shot that was deflected by the defense for a corner. In the 15th minute, a pass from Joseph Huber to Ryan Doolittle, who was waiting at the mouth of the goal, could not get a foot on it. The 28th minute made the Marshfield crowd happy as a nice pass from Joseph Huber was finished by Evan Barth for a 2-0 lead. In the 30th minute, Joseph Huber challenged a ball as it was headed toward the goalie and nearly knocked it away. In the 33rd minute, a promising cross by Clark Campbell was nicely cleared by the defense. In the waning seconds of the first half, Evan Barth dribbled several defenders and just as he was shooting the ball into the net, an offsides call on a player obviously not involved in the play (since Evan never lost possession of the ball) took away the score.

The Jays continued the offensive push in the second half. In the 41st minute, Clark Campbell laced a pass to Colton Harden, but the defense collapsed on him, deflecting it for a corner. In the 45th minute, Nicholas Harden took a free kick that went to Evan Barth, whose shot was cleared by the defense to a waiting Colton Harden, but his shot was just a tad high. In the 46th minute, Evan Barth passed it to Clark Campbell, whose shot was cleared by the defense. In the 48th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Trent Burks right in front of the goal took a bad bounce and skipped away. In the 49th minute, a booming punt from keeper Nic Yonter to Colton Harden set up a shot toward the goal that was inches wide. In the 50th minute, 2 separate opportunities (a pass from Koty Jones to Colton Harden and a pass from Colton Harden to Josh Hyde) were cleared away by the Clinton Defense. In the 52nd minute, Trent Burks sprinted down the sideline with the ball and found Joseph Huber in front of the net, who powered it into the back of the net for a 3-0 Blue Jay lead. In the 58th minute, a pass from Evan Barth to Colton Harden appeared to be a goal, but was deposited on the top of the net. That made sense why the players were not celebrating, but the fans were. It’s all about perspective. The game ended without any further scoring. Keeper Nic Yonter had 13 saves (37 for the tournament) in recording his third shutout of the year, which could not have been accomplished without the efforts of DJ Hensley, who cleared several breakaway threats away and cleared one off of the line, and Josh Hyde, who had his second line clear of the year. The final score was Marshfield – 3, Clinton – 0. The Marshfield Blue Jays ended up with 6 goals for the tournament, the second most of the six teams participating in the event.

It was nice to see most of the roster spend varsity time on the field in the game. This was an excellent way to cap off our most grueling week in the schedule that had away games every single day from Monday to Saturday, except for Wednesday.

Our record is now even again at 5-5. Our next game is Tuesday, September, 28th versus Catholic at 5:00 p.m. at HOME.

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2010 BOLIVAR LIBERATOR SOCCER CLASSIC – There is some controversy whether a group of blue jays is a flock (flocks are used as a general term for a large number of birds that are together), or more specifically a band or party. Since “Beware of the Flock” is the not quite trademark battle cry of the Marshfield Blue Jays, we will go with that for now. Tonight in Bolivar, the Marshfield Blue Jays and Greenwood Blue Jays met in what has become an annual “Blue Pool” second night game. There were blue jays absolutely everywhere. Although this was the second night in a row that Marshfield had played a team that had beaten Bolivar this year (2-1), they did not back down. Although Greenwood had several early strong attacks, the Marshfield defense of Nicholas Harden, Christian Harden, Koty Jones, DJ Hensley, and Keeper Nic Yonter held strong. In the 15th minute, Colton Harden had a smash toward the net that was just inches wide. In the 19th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Ryan Doolittle was pushed slightly high. In the 25th minute, an absolute rocket by Colton Harden was barely tipped away by the goalie. In the 30th minute, Randy Freeman’s ball snuck into the net for a 1 goal Greenwood lead. The 35 minute half ended without any further scoring.

The opening kickoff of the second half for Marshfield became a series of attacks as a breakaway with Ryan Doolittle and Evan Barth was knocked away by the defense for a corner. Clark Campbell took the corner and directed it toward Evan Barth, whose header was deflected for another corner. The ball remained near midfield for most of the half. In the 63rd minute, a free kick by Christian Harden looked promising. Then in the 65th minute, a pass from Jack Hogan to Stuart Beezley, who had gotten behind the defense, found the net and gave Greenwood a 2 goal advantage. In the very next minute, Ryan Doolittle found Colton Harden, whose shot tickled the back of the goal to cut the lead in half: 1-2. As the clock showed the last two minutes of the game, Marshfield’s offense came alive and pressure was applied until the final whistle. Keeper Nic Yonter ended the game with 12 saves. The offensive effort was so close, but another narrow loss could not be averted. Very solid game overall for our Marshfield boys. The final score was Greenwood -2, Marshfield – 1.

The 2010 Bolivar Liberator Soccer Classic continues tomorrow as we play at noon against either College Heights or Clinton.

2010 BOLIVAR LIBERATOR SOCCER CLASSIC – The Jays played the Warrensburg Tigers this evening in Bolivar. Two years ago, the Tigers won 6-1. Last year, the Tigers won 4-3 in overtime, in a game that was unfortunately decided on a ref’ing error. Déjà vu in 2010. We will get to that in a moment. Just so everyone knows, the times will be slightly different since the halves for this tournament are only 35 minutes each.

The Jays started on fire with a pass from Evan Barth finding a waiting Ryan Doolittle and then a waiting net for a 1-0 Marshfield lead. However, in the 7th minute, Josh Pfaff got behind the defense and rocketed a shot from the six that tipped the goalie’s finger, but still went in, for the equalizer. In the 14th minute, a promising pass from Clark Campbell to Colton Harden became a cross that was cleared by the defense. In the 19th minute, Joseph Huber had a pass to Ryan Doolittle that was slightly too far. In the 28th minute, Christian Harden was tripped in the goalie box. Colton Harden took the penalty kick and buried it in the back of the net for a 2-1 Blue Jay lead. There was no further scoring in the first half.

The second half continued to be very competitive. In the 37th minute, Josh Hyde had a nice pass to Ryan Doolittle that was shot just wide. In the 40th minute, the Jays had another chance with a free kick taken by Clark Campbell. In the 48th minute, Warrensburg tied the score at 2. Just when it looked like the Tigers would take the lead, defender Josh Hyde cleared a shot off of the line with a fabulous header. Nice job! With only 12 minutes left in the game, a foul by Josh Hyde, which should have resulted in a yellow card, was given a red card. Playing one man short was just too much as Warrensburg found an unmarked Sam Caballero with only 4 minutes left (66th minute) to make the score 2-3. Keeper Nic Yonter finished the game with 12 saves. The game ended without any further scoring: Warrensburg -3, Marshfield -2.

Let us remember that Warrenburg was undefeated (8-0-1), including a 1-0 win over Bolivar, coming into this match. Hold your heads up high and let’s get ready for Greenwood tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. as the 2010 Bolivar Liberator Soccer Classic continues.

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ROGERSVILLE – Rogersville and Marshfield; the only two high schools located in Webster County. When these two teams meet in any sport, it is always a big deal. This week, there are two such events: Soccer tonight and football on Friday. The soccer game tonight was as hotly contested as expected. Marshfield had much to play for as they were coming off of a 1-0 shutout of West Plains on Monday as well as the memory of the 3-2 overtime loss on this same pitch last year.

The offense was in high gear from the very beginning. In the 2nd minute, a corner from Clark Campbell to Ryan Doolittle was cleared away by the defense. In the 3rd minute, a corner from Clark Campbell to Colton Harden hit the crossbar/post corner to deny the Jays a score. In the 7th minute, a cross from Colton Harden to Evan Barth was headed just wide. In the 13th minute, a free kick was awarded to Marshfield. Colton Harden took the kick about 45 yards from the goal and buried it into the upper 90 for a 1-0 Jays lead. In the 25th minute, a through ball from Colton Harden to Ryan Doolittle brought the crowd to its feet, but was knocked away by the keeper. In the 29th minute, a rocket by Evan Barth was saved. In the 33rd minute, a pass from Christian Harden to Colton Harden was cleared by the defense. The first half ended without any further scoring.

The second half was much more subdued, with most of the action occurring between the 18′s. In the 55th minute, a through ball from Colton Harden to Trent Burks looked destined for glory, but was pushed wide by the defense. In the 65th minute, a nice pass from Joseph Huber to Colton Harden, who was waiting at the mouth of the 18, found the back of the net for a 2-0 Marshfield lead. In the 69th minute, Clark Campbell laced a pass to a waiting Evan Barth, but alas the header was a hair wide. In the 78th minute, Ryan Doolittle’s throw in was chested down by Colton Harden and volleyed right into the onion bag to complete his second hat trick of the season as well as give the Jays a 3 goal advantage. Keeper Nic Yonter ended the night with 7 saves to record his second consecutive shutout. The final score was Marshfield 3, Rogersville 0.

The J.V. was able to play an entire game this evening. The first half was relatively evenly played. The Jays had several good scoring chances by Calvin Birsa, Lucas Cheeney, Dalton Allen, Zack Robbins, and Trent Burks. The defense held strong with Austyn Hyder making some nice saves. However, right before half a ball found the back of the net for a 0-1 disadvantage. In the second half, Dalton Allen had a great shot that was inches high, and Lucas Cheeney had a rocket that just barely went over the crossbar. Near the end of the game, the ball was bouncing around like a pinball in front of the net and found its way in the goal for a 2-0 Wildcat advantage. Austyn Hyder ended the game with 5 saves. The game ended at 0-2.

Our next games are during the Liberator Fall Classic in Bolivar, in the Blue Pool. Thursday we are the “home team” playing Warrensburg at 4:30 p.m. Friday we are the “away team” playing Greenwood at 6:00 p.m. The playoffs are Saturday at 12:00 or 1:45 or 3:30 p.m., depending on the results of the first two games.

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WEST PLAINS – After a long bus ride to perhaps the middle of almost nowhere, finally arriving at West Plains, which is in eastern Missouri but west of the Mississippi River, a football game – disguised as a soccer game – was played. Although both sides were equally as rough, the Mountain View ref showed who had the home field advantage by the direction of his arm for fouls at a nearly two to one ratio. The Jays were mature enough to push this aside as they were on the attack for most of the game. In the 3rd minute of the game, Ryan Doolittle had a nice shot that was just off target. In the 7th minute, Colton Harden passed to Ryan Doolittle, whose shot hit the side netting. Colton Harden had a shot in the 8th minute that was a hair too high. In the 11th minute, a corner from Clark Campbell to Ryan Doolittle was saved. The next 16 minutes saw the ball mostly in the midfield area with quite a bit of contact between the players. In the 27th minute, a pass from Koty Jones to Clark Campbell looked promising, but glanced off of the keeper. In the 35th minute, a pass from Evan Barth to Ryan Doolittle was slightly too long. In the 40th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Christian Harden resulted in a ball that barely missed the goal. The first half ended in a scoreless tie.

The opening minutes of the second half started in a rather interesting fashion. In a surprisingly proper call by the refs this night, the ball was bouncing around the Zizzer goalie box when a defender passed it back to the goalie, who picked it up. This resulted in an indirect free kick from the spot of the foul, which was approximately the six-yard line. The Jays’ Evan Barth quickly took the kick to Colton Harden, who scored. Although a whistle is not required to restart play in an indirect free kick situation, the ref disallowed the goal and reset everyone. The entire goal line was stuffed with West Plains players as Clark Campbell took the kick toward Colton Harden, who easily outsmarted the defense and scored for a 1-0 Blue Jay lead. There were several additional offensive chances sprinkled throughout the rest of the half. In the 49th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Clark Campbell was saved. In the 66th minute, a free kick taken by Clark Campbell was redirected by Evan Barth toward the goal, but stopped by the keeper. In the 75th minute, a corner from Christian Harden to Evan Barth was just a little too high. In the 78th minute, Ryan Doolittle was on a breakaway that was oh so close. In the 79th minute, Trent Burks had a nice shot that sailed too much in the humid air. Marshfield Keeper Nic Yonter ended the night with 16 saves, and his first clean sheet of the season. The Jays eeked out a hard-fought 1-0 victory against a Class 3 opponent (we are in Class 2), to even their record at 3-3.

The J.V. played hard as well. The first half only saw a Zizzer shot in the 9th minute kiss the crossbar and go into the net. Lucas Cheeney and Zack Robbins were continually hustling and threatening the Zizzer goal area for the Jays, but did not find success on this night. In the second half, a defensive rebound in the 45th minute, a set play in the 46th minute, and a breakaway in the 55th minute made the score 0-4. However, in the 62nd minute, a handball in the goalie box by the a West Plains defender became a penalty kick goal for Joseph Huber: 1-4. The scoring was closed out in the 64th minute with another Zizzer goal for the final score of 1-5. Keeper Austyn Hyder had 11 saves.

Our next game is tomorrow, Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. at ROGERSVILLE. Since they do not have lights, the varsity is scheduled to play first.

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MARSHFIELD – The Blue Jays and New Covenant Warriors did battle tonight. Very similar to last years’ 5-4 Marshfield victory in overtime, this game had a lot of offensive fireworks. Marshfield attacked from the beginning of the game. In just the 3rd minute, a corner kick from Clark Campbell was finished by a Colton Harden header for a 1-0 lead. In the 9th minute, Ryan Doolittle was on a breakaway as he was tripped in the penalty box. He took his own penalty kick and buried it into the back of the net for a 2-0 Jays lead. The Jays kept up the offensive pressure throughout the half: a corner by Christian Harden in the 13th minute, a header by Evan Barth in the 18th minute was knocked away, a cross by Trent Burks in the 28th minute was just high, a header by Colton Harden from a corner by Christian Harden in the 31st minute just missed. In the 34th minute, a shot by Josh Harrison had the Marshfield keeper stuck in a mud pit by the goal as it snuck into the goal to cut the lead to 2-1. In the 38th minute, Evan Barth had a nice run toward the goal that was knocked away. Defenders Josh Hyde and Nicholas Harden kept the Warriors at bay by sacrificing their bodies to block several shots at the goal. The half ended without any further scoring.

As the second half started, Evan Barth had two chances in the opening couple of minutes. In the 44th minute, Colton Harden took a pass from Christian Harden and kicked it in the corner of the net for his second goal and a 3-1 lead. Just two minutes later, a pass from Ryan Doolittle was finished beautifully by Evan Barth to make it 4-1. The Warriors cut the lead as a rebound found Nick Mills and then the net: 4-2. In the 53rd minute, the Blue Jay crowd rose to their feet as a fabulous cross by Clark Campbell became a screaming volley by Colton Harden right toward the goal, but it was saved by the Warrior keeper. In the next 12 minutes, Clark Campbell had two shots at the goal, Colton Harden had one shot, a cross from Colton Harden to Evan Barth, and a shot by Ryan Doolittle did not find pay dirt. In the 67th minute, Josh Harrison scored his second goal of the night to trim the lead to 4-3. In the 72nd minute, the Jays crowd relaxed a little as a nice pass from Trent Burks to Colton Harden made the score 5-3 and gave him a Hat Trick for the night. Keeper Nic Yonter ended the night with 9 saves. The final score was Marshfield 5, New Covenant 3.

The J.V. played a 35 minute half after the varsity and had their best game to date. It was pleasant to see the team have 11 players instead of being 2 down. In the 8th minute, Calvin Birsa celebrated his first goal. Most of the game was played on the New Covenant side of the field as Lucas Cheeney, Dalton Allen, Zack Robbins, Nic Yonter, Joseph Huber, and Trent Burks kept up the constant offensive pressure. In the 29th minute, Calvin Birsa continued his scoring onslaught by kicking another ball into the net. 4 minutes later, the scoring was topped off by a throw in from Calvin Birsa being headed in by a New Covenant player to bring us to the game’s final score of 3-0! Austyn Hyder had 4 saves.

A very enjoyable night of soccer, thanks guys. The Varsity is now 2-3 and the J.V. is now 1-4. Keep up the good work. We have a busy week ahead of us with 5 away games. Our next game is Monday, September 20th at 5 PM in WEST PLAINS. Tuesday is Rogersville. Thursday through Saturday is the Bolivar Tournament.

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MARSHFIELD – The game started out in a tough way as Avery Genovese from Bolivar scored on a rebound off a defender in the 3rd minute. Marshfield tried to fight back in the 7th minute as Colton Harden’s pass to Ryan Doolittle and Christian Harden’s possession in the box ended up uneventful. In the 19th minute, Colton Harden’s shot’s was deflected by the keeper and almost found Evan Barth for the rebound. In the 30th minute, Matt Magana took a pass from ? and found the back of the net for a 2-0 Liberator lead. However, Marshfield answered back as Evan Barth was going toward the goal and was fouled inside the box. Colton Harden took the penalty kick and buried it to cut to margin to 1-2. There was no further scoring in the first half.

The Jays seemed rejuvenated after the ten minute rest and only one goal disadvantage. They finally broke through in the 54th minute as Colton Harden went unassisted to tie the score at 2! After several very nice defensive stops, an own goal in the 61st minute made the score 2-3. The Jays spring to life in the 64th minute as free kicks by Colton Harden and Clark Campbell were both saved. In the 71st minute, a breakaway by Matt Magana and a little bit of chaos around the mouth of the goal made it 2-4. There was to be no more scoring this night. Keeper Nic Yonter finished with 18 saves.

The J.V. again showed improvement, holding Bolivar to 3 goals in the first half. The second half was actually a much better half as they played 2 men down. With only 8 minutes to go in the game, Lucas Cheeney took a pass from Riley O’Dell and scored the first goal of his high school career as well as the first goal of the season for the J.V. team. With 4 minutes left, Calvin Birsa came oh so close to a goal. Bolivar was able to score two more goals in the second half. The game ended 1-5.

The Varsity played with the second place team in the State last year for most of the game. The J.V. played their best game so far and scored their first goal. Nice going.

Our record is now 1-3. Our next game is this Thursday, September 16, 2010, at HOME against New Covenant Academy, at 5:00 p.m. The varsity will play first and the J.V. will then play for one half.

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MARSHFIELD – Tonight the Marshfield Blue Jays took on the Cassville ‘Cats, looking for a positive spark for the season. Boy, did they get it. The Jays played one of their best games in recent memory. From the beginning whistle, the offense was pressing the ball toward the goal. In the 10th minute, Colton Harden took the pass from Evan Barth, dribbled and smashed it into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. In the 16th minute, Colton Harden again had a chance, but pushed it just high. The next few minutes saw a beautiful cross from Evan Barth to Trent Burks that almost went in, and a shot by Ryan Doolittle that was just high. The next ten minutes were played mostly in the midfield until a ball by Colton Harden hit off the crossbar, a shot by Trent Burks was saved by the goalie, and a cross from Clark Campbell to Ryan Doolittle was slightly too long. In the 33rd minute, the Jays ran a corner to perfection, Christian Harden to his older brother Colton, which hit pay dirt again for a 2-0 Jay lead. The 35th minute had Trent Burks crossing to his dear friend, Clark Campbell, who shot and watched the keeper take away the potential score. The half ended without any further scoring as the defense of Nicholas Harden, Koty Jones, Josh Hyde, and D.J. Hensley held strong. Josh Hyde and Koty Jones made several nice runs to help the offense keep up the pressure.

In the 48th minute, Colton Harden had a free kick that sailed just wide. In the 55th minute, a nice cross by Christian Harden did not find a waiting teammate. In the 63rd minute, B.J. McGuffey broke the defense to trim the margin to 2-1. In the 69th minute, a cross from Ryan Doolittle to Trent Burks to the mouth of goal barely skipped away. The rest of the game saw the defense buckle down, several great saves by Nic Yonter, and many offensive chances by Colton Harden, Ryan Doolittle, Trent Burks, and Evan Barth. Keeper Nic Yonter ended the night with 18 saves. As the final whistle blew, the crowd cheered their hometown boys’ effort and winning score of 2-1.

The J.V. team showed similar improvement, also playing their best game of the year. Even though the halftime score of 0-2, and the final score of 0-4 may not show it, the J.V. team had a great game. Several shots each by Calvin Birsa, Lucas Cheeney, and Joseph Huber were saved by the Cassville goalie. Otherwise, the final score would have been much closer.

Nice night of soccer everyone. It was great to see the bleachers full and rocking for the Jays. Our next game is tomorrow, Tuesday, at HOME against Bolivar, at 5:00 p.m.

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