Marshfield Blue Jays Soccer

MARSHFIELD – As always, Senior Night is sad and happy all at the same time. It was the last home game for eight seniors: Evan Barth, Calvin Birsa, Trent Burks, Ryan Doolittle, Colton Harden, DJ Hensley, Josh Hyde, and Kyle Wilson. Just a stepping stone to college soccer for some. We certainly wish all of them success in whatever they choose to do in the future.

Going against a 40 mile per hour wind made mustering offensive chances rather difficult in the first half. In the 4th minute, a cross from Colton Harden to Evan Barth was headed, but off of the post. In the 9th minute, a pass from Evan Bath to Colton Harden was shot just wide. In the 12th minute, Clark Campbell took a pass from Christian Harden and chipped it slightly wide. In the 14th minute, a pass from Trent Burks to Evan Barth was knocked away by the defense. In the 18th minute, Ryan Doolittle stole the ball, passed it to Evan Barth, who sent it to Colton Harden, who was tripped right outside of the box. Colton Harden took the free kick, which looked quite promising but was saved by the keeper. In the 23rd minute, a nice cross from Colton Harden was headed by Evan Barth, but off of the crossbar. In the 29th minute, Ryan Doolittle crossed the ball to Evan Barth, whose header was buried in the back of the net for a 1-0 Jays lead! In the 30th minute, Trent Burks crossed the ball to Evan Barth, whose header was knocked away. In the 34th minute, a solid cross by Trent Burks was cleared by the defense. In the 39th minute, Clark Campbell left a ball for Evan Barth, who nearly beat the keeper to the ball. The first half ended without any further scoring.

In the second half, the Jays had the wind to their backs, and started strong. In the 41st minute, a free kick from 35 yards by Colton Harden found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. Just two minutes later, in the 43rd minute, Colton Harden took a pass from Ryan Doolittle and chipped it into the net to increase the lead to 3-0. In the 45th minute, Evan Barth had a nice run with the ball that was cleared away by the defense. In the 49th minute Clark Campbell took a pass from Colton Harden, but his shot was saved by the goalie. In the 52nd minute, Ryan Doolittle passed the ball to Evan Barth, whose chip almost dropped in. In the 65th minute, Evan Barth had another nice run, but the defense collapsed on him before the shot. In the 62nd minute, Joseph Huber’s rocket was saved. In the 63rd minute, a great run and shot by defender Nicholas Harden was saved. In the 64th minute, Trent Burks had a smash that was also saved. In the 79th minute, a wonderful cross from Trent Burks at the six yard line was met by a diving header from Evan Barth to make the final score 4-0. Nic Yonter had 4 saves for the night. This was the seventh shutout for Nic Yonter and the Marshfield defense this year. Our record is now 10-11, which is the second 10 game win season in history (10-14 in 2008) and best record in history for the program.

Congratulations again to the seniors. Now it is time to “roll up your sleeves” everyone and get ready for districts. Our next game is against Rogersville in the district semifinals in BOLIVAR at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, November 1st. GO JAYS!!!!

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MARSHFIELD – Don’t we all love it when the Blue Jays come to town. Tonight, the Marshfield Blue Jays played the Greenwood Blue Jays in a rather exciting game that was much closer than the score. Greenwood finally had all of their injured stars back to full health and it showed. Marshfield started out fast as Colton Harden had a shot in the first minute that was just high. In the 4th minute, Ryan Doolittle took a pass from Colton Harden, shot it a the goal and the keeper deflected it to a waiting Evan Barth, who could not quite corral the ball. In the 6th minute, a pass from Evan Barth to Ryan Doolittle was shot wide. In the 12th minute, a free kick taken by Colton Harden was blocked by the defensive wall. In the 15th minute, Evan Barth had a nice volley that was inches high. In the 23rd minute, Ryan Doolittle had a breakaway opportunity that was stuffed by the keeper. In the 31st minute, a free kick taken by Nicholas Harden to Evan Barth was cleared away for a corner. Christian Harden sent the corner kick to Ryan Doolittle, whose shot was blocked by the defense. Then, a defensive lapse that lasted for less than 2 minutes allowed 2 goals as Stuart Beezley scored in the 36th minute and Devon Whitlock scored in the 37th minute to make the halftime score 0-2.

In the second half, the action remained fast and furious. In the 41st minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Evan Barth looked promising but was cleared away by the defense. In the 49th minute, a corner by Greenwood went in front of the goal with a host of offensive players and ended up contacting Hawken Thieme’s foot and then the net to make the score 0-3. In the 51st minute, a cross from Colton Harden to Evan Barth at the far post beat the keeper, but the header was slightly high. In the 55th minute, another cross by Colton Harden to Evan Barth was headed, but saved by the keeper. In the 56th minute, a rocket by Colton Harden was knocked away. In the 57th minute, a pass from Joseph Huber to Trent Burks was shot wide. In the 58th minute, Evan Barth was on a breakaway and tripped right outside of the penalty area. The free kick was taken by Colton Harden and buried in the back of the net to make the score 1-3. In the 61st minute, a deep throw in from Christian Harden to Ryan Doolittle in the box was cleared away by the defense. In the 68th minute, a free kick by Nicholas Harden into the box was cleared away. In the 69th minute, a pass from Nicholas Harden to Colton Harden was cleared away by the defense. In the 72nd minute, shots by Clark Campbell, Joseph Huber and Lucas Cheeney all hit the crossbar, in rapid succession. What are the odds of that? Unfortunately, none of the balls found the back of the net. In the 77th minute, a cross from Joseph Huber in front of the mouth of the goal to Lucas Cheeney was so close to being tipped in. Four breakaway or point blank opportunities by Greenwood were all stuffed by the Marshfield goalie to keep the visitors to only one goal in the second half. Marshfield Keeper Nic Yonter finished the night with 19 saves. The final score: Marshfield -1, Greenwood -3.

The J.V. played a 35 minute half. Greenwood scored in the 11th minute. There were several good offensive opportunities with Zack Robbins and Clark Campbell hitting the post. In stoppage time, a pass from Joseph Huber to Riley O’Dell found the back of the net to bring us to the final score of 1-1. DJ Hensley played keeper and had 5 saves.

A special shout out to Colton Harden who scored his 26th goal of the season tonight, breaking the school record of 25 by Robert Martin (2009). Colton also now has 149 career points, which is a school record as well {Robert Martin – 143 (2006-2009)}.

Other than the two minutes, we played a healthy and aggressive Greenwood team evenly. Time to get ready for our last regular season game against Lebanon on Monday, October 25th at 5:00 p.m. at HOME. It will also be Senior Night!

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The Class 2 District 9 District Tournament has just been announced. Bolivar will host the tournament this year.

Seedings:

#1 Bolivar (13-7)
#2 Marshfield (9-10)
#3 Rogersville (7-10)
#4 Republic (2-15)
#5 Hillcrest (2-20)

Schedule:

Saturday, Oct. 30th
11:00 am – #4 Republic vs. #5 Hillcrest

Monday, November 1st
4:30 pm – #1 Bolivar vs. Winner Republic vs Hillcrest
6:00 pm – #2 Marshfield vs. #3 Rogersville

Tuesday, November 2nd
6:00pm – Championship game

**** Our district champion plays the Class 2 District 10 (consisting of many of our old district-mates) tournament champion (hosted by Monett this year) in the Sectionals, on Tuesday, November 9, 2010. The winner would move on to the State Quarterfinal Game on Saturday, November 13th. ****

COOPER FIELD #3, SPRINGFIELD – The Marshfield Blue Jays faced the Central Bulldogs tonight, a team that was 14-3 going into the game. This match featured numerous chances by each team that were clustered together for some reason. One team would have a few chances in a row, then the other team would take over. The Jays started quickly in the 3rd minute with a cross from Colton Harden placed perfectly in the box for Evan Barth to head toward the goal, but it was saved by the goalie. In the 8th minute, a curving upper 90 rocket of a shot off of the foot of Central’s Kelsey Garnett was knocked away by Jays keeper Nic Yonter. In the 14th minute, a cross from Colton Harden to Evan Barth was redirected toward the goal, but just a tad too high. In the 20th minute, a shot from Christian Harden was cleared by the defense. In the 21st minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Ryan Doolittle was shot wide. In the 22nd minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Christian Harden was headed toward the far post, but cleared out by the defense. In the 25th minute, Ryan Doolittle had a throw in deep in Central territory that was cleared away by the defense. In the 36th minute, Ryan Doolittle crossed the ball to Colton Harden in the middle of the box which he “turned and shot” but was unfortunately tipped away by the keeper. The half ended with a scoreless tie.

The second half started out rather badly for the Jays as Central took the opening kickoff and sliced through the defense as Kyle Scranton made it 0-1 in the 41st minute. In the 43rd minute, Kyle Scranton made it 0-2. The defense performed much better after this 3 minute lapse. In the 45th minute, a long range shot by Ryan Doolittle was knocked away. In the 46th minute, a cross by Colton Harden was headed by Evan Barth, but cleared away by the defense. In the 54th minute, Colton Harden again crossed it to Evan Barth’s head, who did not disappoint the Jays’ crowd, and beat the keeper to make the score 1-2. In the 63rd minute, a free kick taken by Colton Harden was inches wide. In the 73rd minute, a rocket off of the foot of Colton Harden hit hard off the crossbar. In the 76th minute, a corner kick from Clark Campbell to Colton Harden was smashed into the back of the net to level the score at 2. Several spectacular saves by keeper Yonter made sure that there would be no more scoring in regulation.

The first overtime period was relatively uneventful. In the 84th minute, a nice shot by Clark Campbell was saved. In the 89th minute, a deep throw in from Ryan Doolittle to Christian Harden was inches away from being an upper 90 goal. The second overtime period featured some nice defense to force the game into a penalty kick shootout. Marshfield Keeper Nic Yonter ended the night with 24 saves. Central ended up winning the PK battle 6-5 to win the game. Final official score: Central -3, Marshfield -2 (PK’s 6-5). Our record is now 9-10.

Nice job of playing straight up against a team with only 3 losses. Our next game is this Thursday, October 21st at 5:00 p.m. against Greenwood at HOME.

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MONETT – What coulda, shoulda, woulda been… The city soccer fields overlooking the Highway 60 overpass in Monett became a land of so many missed opportunities tonight: two corners that went through the Monett keeper’s hands, two crosses that went through the Monett keeper’s hands, three corners that went completely through the penalty box, several breakaway chances, a shot that hit the side netting, a shot that landed on top of the goal…

In the first half, the Jays seemed somewhat uninspired, especially compared to the last three games, but they did keep the offensive pressure on. In the 4th minute, Colton Harden had a shot that was saved. In the 5th minute, a pass from Clark Campbell to Ryan Doolittle was shot slightly too high. In the 12th minute, a shot from Colton Harden was just wide. In the 17th minute, a pass from Trent Burks to Colton Harden hit the side netting. In the 23rd minute, a ball was bounced around like a pinball n the Jay penalty area, and ended up in the goal for a 0-1 score. In the 37th minute, another defense lapse allowed a second goal in for Monett: 0-2. In the 39th minute, a pass from Trent Burks to Clark Campbell was nearly bicycled into the goal. The half ended without any further scoring.

In the second half, the Jays really applied the offensive pressure. In the 41st minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Christian Harden was volleyed, but landed just wide. In the 48th minute, Evan Barth was on a breakaway and was tripped in the box. Colton Harden took the penalty kick and buried it in the back of the net to make the score 1-2. In the 54th minute, the Jays had a pinball opportunity in the Monett box, with Evan Barth, Joseph Huber, Christian Harden, and others having opportunities, but the ball was eventually cleared away. In the 58th minute, a pass from Ryan Doolittle to Joseph Huber by the far post could not be redirected into the goal. In the 59th minute, a free kick by Colton Harden was inches too high. In the 64th minute, a pass from Josh Hyde to Evan Barth was smashed at the goal, but tipped away. In the 76th minute, a needless foul caused a free kick right outside of the 18 that was taken by Monett and drilled a calculated 33 yards away, precisely into the upper 90 corner by sheer millimeters, to extend Monett’s lead to 2 goals. The Jays did not give up however. In the 77th minute, a shot by Ryan Doolittle ended up on top of the net. In the 78th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Christian Harden was pushed just wide. Keeper Nic Yonter ended the night with 13 saves. The final score: Marshfield – 1, Monett – 3.

The J.V. played two halves of 35 minutes in length. Goals were scored by Monett in the 8th, 28th, and 34th minutes in the first half. In the second half, goals were scored by Monett in the 41st, 45th, 50th, and 57th minutes. In the 64th minute, Joseph Huber dribbled through several defenders and found an open Lucas Cheeney who finished the deal by sending the ball to the opposite corner of the goal. Clark Campbell, Lucas Cheeney and Dalton Allen had several nice offensive opportunities. Keeper Austyn Hyder finished with 5 saves through the first 57 minutes of the game. Calvin Birsa finished up the game and also had 5 saves in 13 minutes. The final score: Marshfield – 1, Monett – 7.

Here is hoping we get the offensive magic back we had the previous 3 games as we play Central on the road on Monday, October 18th at 5:00 p.m. at Cooper 2. Our record is now back to .500 at 9-9.

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MARSHFIELD – The crisp air made for a delightful soccer night as the Marshfield Blue Jays and Rogersville Wildcats tangled for the soccer bragging rights of Webster County. The Jays applied immediate offensive pressure. In the 3rd minute, Trent Burks had a hard shot that was saved by the Rogersville keeper. In the 4th minute, a nice corner by Clark Campbell went inside the 6, but was cleared out by the defense. In the 8th minute, a cross by Ryan Doolittle found the back of the net, courtesy of a nice header by Evan Barth, for a 1-0 Jays lead. In the 9th minute, Evan Barth’s shot was cleared away. In the 12th minute, a nice cross by Trent Burks was a tad too long. In the 13th minute, a corner taken by Christian Harden to Evan Barth was cleared. In the 14th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Evan Barth had the crowd on their feet, but was cleared right off of the line by a Rogersville defender. In the 16th minute, a ball from Colton Harden to Christian Harden was sent just high. In the 24th minute, a cross from Evan Barth to Colton Harden was stopped by the defense. In the 30th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Evan Barth was sent slightly over the bar. A nice corner by Clark Campbell in the 31st minute into the box was cleared away. A free kick by Colton Harden was sent far post and almost tapped in by Evan Barth. In the 32nd minute, a pass from Clark Campbell to Evan Barth was sent just wide. In the 33rd minute, a throw in from Ryan Doolittle to Evan Barth was headed just wide. In the 35th minute, Ryan Doolittle threaded a pass through a couple of defenders to Colton Harden, who did not disappoint the Jays’ crowd, doubling the lead to 2-0. In the 39th minute, a free kick taken by Koty Jones went right to the Head of Evan Barth, but was saved by the keeper. There was no more scoring in the half.

The offensive excitement continued in the second half. In the 46th minute, Evan Barth took a pass from Colton Harden and smashed it at the bottom of the crossbar. In the 49th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Josh Hyde was just wide. In the 51st minute, Ryan Doolittle took a hard shot at the keeper and followed the rebound into the net for 3-0 lead. In the 56th minute, Ryan Doolittle earned his third assist to Evan Barth to make it 4-0. In the 60th minute, #5 Christian Harden took a pass from Colton Harden and handcuffed the goalie with a big boot to increase the lead to 5 goals. In the 61st minute, a pass from Evan Barth to Colton Harden was placed into the side netting. In the 62nd minute, a pass from Clark Campbell to Evan Barth became goal number 6 for the Jays and completed a hat trick for #7. Keeper Nic Yonter ended the night with 10 saves and the 6th shutout of the year for Nic and the defense. The final score was Marshfield – 6, Rogersville – 0.

The J.V. team did not fare as well. Rogersville scored three goals in the first half, all by Joe Whittington in the 4th, 22nd, and 31st minutes, the last 2 being assisted by Dalton Simmons. In the second half, Dalton Simmons scored in the 44th minute, for a 4-0 lead. The Jays’ Zack Robbins almost scored in the 46th minute as his shot hit the post. In the 54th minute, Joe Whittington scored his 4th goal of the night to give the “Cats a 5-0 lead. Marshfield’s Hunter Heape and Keegan Moore made sure there were no more goals as both had very nice clears off of the line in the last 5 minutes of the game. Keeper Austyn Hyder had 5 saves. The final score was Marshfield – 0, Rogersville – 5.

Props to Ryan Doolittle with 1 goal and 3 assists, and Evan Barth with his first career hat trick. Let’s keep this kind of offensive intensity up for the rest of the season, Jays! Our record is now a program history best of 9-8! Our next game is this Thursday, October 14th, at 4:30 p.m. in MONETT.

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MARSHFIELD – Tonight the Blue Jays were ready for some “home cooking” after 4 consecutive road games. The offensive pressure was strong from the very beginning of the game. Only one day after 10-10-10, Marshfield’s Number 10 took care of business. In only the 2nd minute, Colton Harden took a pass from Ryan Doolittle and tickled the net for a 1-0 lead. In the 6th minute, Clark Campbell took a corner kick. In the 7th minute, Nicholas Harden sent a free kick into the box, but it was cleared by the defense. In the 15th minute, Ryan Doolittle found Colton Harden again as the lead doubled to 2-0. In the 16th minute, Colton Harden pass to Christian Harden looked promising, but was cleared out by the defense. In the 31 st minute, a pass from Clark Campbell was laced through several defenders to Lucas Cheeney, who smashed the ball into the net for his first varsity goal, and a 3-0 lead. In the 34th minute, Evan Barth found a waiting Calvin Birsa, who also scored his first varsity goal, to make the game 4-0. The half would end with this same score.

In the 44th minute, a head flick from Colton Harden went to Ryan Doolittle, who kicked the ball into and through the net to add another goal to the Jays’ total: 5-0. In the 48th minute, a rocket off of the foot of Christian Harden was saved by the keeper. In the 53rd minute, a free kick from about 25 yards off of the foot of Colton Harden found the back of the net for his third goal of the night and the 6th for the home team. In the 66th minute, a free kick by DJ Hensley was cleared by the defense. In the 70th minute, a nice shot by Hunter Heape nearly found glory. In the 74th minute, a cross from Koty Jones was headed by Calvin Birsa just slightly too high. Several J.V. players were able to log some valuable varsity time in the second half. Keeper Nic Yonter had 6 saves and his 5th shutout of the year (school record). Colton Harden had his 4th hat trick of the year (also a school record). With his 22 goals this year, Colton Harden has just passed Ethan Journigan’s 20 goals (2008) to put him in second place for goals in a season. He is now shooting for Robert Martin’s school record of 25 goals in a season (2009). The game ended with the final score of Marshfield – 6, Aurora – 0.

The J.V. played one 40 minute half. Koty Jones scored the first goal in the 7th minute. In the 25th minute, a nice cross from Joseph Huber found Nic Yonter near the sideline, who took a touch and slammed it into the onion bag for a 2-0 lead. In the 40th minute, a smash by Josh Hyde rebounded off of the post, right to a waiting Riley O’Dell, whose shot found pay dirt. Austyn Hyder had 2 saves during his shutout half. The game ended 3-0.

This brings our record back to .500 at 8-8. This is the earliest in history for our 8th win (21st game in 2008, 21st game in 2009). Our next game is tomorrow, Tuesday, October 12th at 5:00 p.m. at HOME against Rogersville.

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BRANSON – The game was back and forth from the very beginning. In the very first minute, Evan Barth had a nice run toward the goal that was stopped by the keeper. In the 2nd minute, Ryan Doolittle had a pass to Evan Barth, whose header was just high. In the 3rd minute, a well placed ball from Colton Harden to Ryan Doolittle was smashed into the net for an early 1-0 Jays lead. Branson’s Fernando Cedeno was tripped in the box. Cedeno took the penalty kick and tied the score in the 8th minute. In the 10th minute, Evan Barth fed Colton Harden whose shot was cleared by the Pirate defense. In the 11th minute, Clark Campbell found Colton Harden, but the shot was a hair wide. In the 15th minute, Koty Jones had a chance with a free kick. In the 16th minute, a pass from Evan Barth to Ryan Doolittle was cleared away by the defense. In the 17th minute, an illegal touching by the Branson keeper resulted in an indirect free kick right outside of the penalty box. Evan Barth passed to Colton Harden, whose shot looked good but was inches high. In the 18th minute, Colton Harden took a pass from Evan Barth and put the Jays up 2-1. In the 19th minute, a pass from Evan Barth to Colton Harden was cleared by the defense. In the 21st minute, Evan Barth juggled the ball over the goalie’s head and nearly brought it back into play. In the 22nd minute, Clark Campbell took a corner kick. In the 35th minute, a ball was bouncing like a pinball inside the goal area, and predictably snuck in the goal to make it 2-2. The half ended without any further scoring.

In the 46th minute, Christian Harden found his brother, Colton Harden, to give Marshfield a 3-2 lead. In the 50th minute, a nice throw in from Ryan Doolittle to Colton Harden was pushed just wide. In the 52nd minute, a shot by Ryan Doolittle found the side netting. Clark Campbell took a corner kick in the in the 55th minute. In the 57th minute, a pass from Ryan Doolittle to Colton Harden was cleared by the defense. In the 61st minute, a free kick from Koty Jones into the box was headed by Evan Barth and saved by the keeper. In the 69th minute, a defensive lapse allowed Branson to tie the score at 3. In the 73rd minute, 3 defenders and Fernando Cedeno arrived in the goal area at the same time. Cedeno came out on top to give the Pirates a 4-3 lead. The Jays kept applying pressure in an effort to re-tie the score. In the 80th minute, the Jays were successful as Colton Harden dribbling over the sweeper and scored from a pass by Ryan Doolittle to tie the score again at 4-4. Marshfield Keeper Nic Yonter ended the night with 11 saves.

In the very first minute of overtime, Colton Harden ended the game by smashing the ball into the back of the net (assist by Evan Barth) for his fourth goal of the night: Marshfield – 5, Branson -4.

The J.V. game ended up with a different result. The Pirates scored in the 2nd, 10th, 14th, 33rd minutes. The Jays did have one goal in the 26th minute as Lucas Cheeney fed Koty Jones for a very nice shot. The half ended 1-4. In the second half, goals were scored in the 36th, 39th, 41st minutes for a 1-7. Calvin Birsa went in for Astyn Hyder (5 saves) in the 42nd minute. Additional goals were scored in the 54th, 59th, 63rd, and 70th minutes for a final score of 1-11. Calvin Birsa ended the night with 8 saves.

Our record is now 7-8. Good job of hanging tough in a shootout. Our next game is on Monday, October 11th at 5:00 p.m. against Aurora at HOME. This is a makeup game that was originally scheduled for September 9th.

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BOLIVAR – Marshfield has never beaten Bolivar in soccer in their 10-year history. This past did not seem to follow the Jays as they geared up for tonight’s game. The majority of the game was played in the midfield area. The Jays had several chances in the first ten minutes with corner kicks taken by Christian Harden in the 4th and 9th minutes, and a free kick also by Christian Harden in the 10th minute that was sent into the box, but cleared by the defense. In the 20th minute, a corner from Christian Harden was cleared on the other side for another corner, which was taken by Clark Campbell to Evan Barth, and cleared away by the defense. In the 22nd minute, a shot by Colton Harden was just wide. In the 33rd minute, a shot by Colton Harden was a hair high. In the 37th minute, Clark Campbell’s free kick was cleared away by the defense. In the 38th minute, a corner kick by Clark Campbell slipped through the keeper’s hands, but the offense could not take advantage. The scoreless half ended without much further scoring chances.

As the sun went down, the action heated up and the intensity grew. In the 41st minute, Evan Barth had a nice pass to Trent Burks that was cleared away. In the 53rd minute, Clark Campbell took a corner kick. The Jays fans were on their feet in the 55th minute as a free kick right outside the penalty box was taken by Colton Harden, but blocked by the wall. In the next minute, a rocket shot by Bolivar’s Mitch Waters was parried away by the keeper just as Matt Magana crashed the goal, only to find the keeper denying the goal again. In the 58th minute, Evan Barth laced a pass to Colton Harden, whose shot was just high. In the 59th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Ryan Doolittle in front of the goal could not be controlled. In the 60th minute, a pass from Colton Harden to Evan Barth was headed slightly too high. In the 61st minute, Evan Barth had a nice run with the ball, but the defense collapsed on him. In the 74th minute, a free kick by Christian Harden was sent into the box, but cleared away by the defense. In the 75th minute, a questionable foul outside of the box somehow became a penalty kick call. Mitch Waters placed the kick just inches from the diving Jays keeper to put Bolivar up 1-0.

A reading of the National Federation of State High School Associations Soccer Rules Book (the rule book MSHSAA goes by) would suggest the spot of the foul (point of contact) and not the place where a player ultimately falls is determinative (assuming of course that such contact rose to the level of a foul to begin with.) {This would be Rule 13, Section 1, Art. 2 for those scoring at home.} Would a third ref have helped the call? Probably. Would the conference changing over to a 3-ref system upgrade the quality of the ref’ing, keep the players safer, and attract some of the higher rated refs in the area? Based upon recent surveys – Absolutely Yes! Charging admission more than takes care of this small incremental expense. Perhaps someone who could affect this type of change is reading this. The request would be for the safety of the players and the honor of the game.

Poetry in motion would not be used to describe this situation. The beauty of a scoreless, competitive game begs for the 22 young men on the field – covered with sweat, grass, bruises, etc. – to determine the outcome, whatever that may be. Unfortunately, these scripts are not written by journalists. If only they could be written by the players. Well, there will certainly be other chapters, all written as they are lived. With less than 5 minutes left in the game, the Jays did their best to tie the score. A free kick by Nicholas Harden, 2 corners by Clark Campbell, a free kick by Colton Harden right outside the box, a pass from Koty Jones to Evan Barth, a free kick by Nicholas Harden were all just little long or high or cleared by the defense. Keeper Nic Yonter ended the game with 13 saves. The defense did a great job of keeping the Liberators at bay all night. The game ended with the final score of Bolivar – 1, Marshfield – 0.

The J.V. played 2 25 minute halves. Evan Barth started in the goal and had 2 saves. Bolivar scored in the 4th and 7th minutes. Josh Hyde took over in the 13th minute as keeper and had 4 saves. In the 18th minute, a handball in Bolivar’s penalty box gave Clark Campbell a chance at a penalty kick, but it was slightly high. In the 19th minute, Bolivar scored their 3rd goal. The half ended 0-3. Ryan Doolittle was the keeper in the second half and had 3 saves. In the 26th minute, Bolivar scored again to make it 0-4. This was also the final score.

Nice job, Jays. This was basically an even game on the field. Both sides performed admirably. Hold your heads up high, Marshfield. Hats off to Bolivar as well. Our next game is this Thursday, October 7th at 4:30 p.m. in BRANSON.

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CAMDENTON – Five minutes does not seem like a very long time. Five minutes during an 80 minute game (1/16 or 6.25%) seems rather insignificant. Well, not so tonight, but more on that in a bit. In the 4th minute, Colton Harden had a nice cross to Evan Barth, who headed it toward the goal, but it was knocked away. In the 13th minute, a free kick by Colton Harden toward the box was cleared by the defense. In the 28th minute, a pass from Evan Barth to Colton Harden was shot just wide. In the 29th minute, a ball from Clark Campbell to Ryan Doolittle was slightly too long. In the 36th minute, a pass from Christian Harden to Ryan Doolittle looked promising, but was cleared by the defense. Then, in the 37th minute, Colton Harden struck a ball into the penalty box for Evan Barth, who drove the ball into the net for a 1-0 Jays lead! Unfortunately, in the next minute, a ball deflected off a defender, then found the net off of the foot of Nick Huey, for the equalizer. Thanks to the fantastic play by DJ Hensley, Josh Hyde, Nicholas Harden, and Christian Harden (2 clears off of the line), the Jays went into halftime tied at 1.

In the second half, it appeared that most of the Marshfield side decided to go to Tres Hombres, a local Mexican restaurant that specializes in fast service. Between the 47th and 52nd minutes (the aforementioned lost five minutes), Camdenton scored 3 goals without much resistance (47th – Blake Addington from Jeron Sinclair, 49th – Jeron Sinclair from Nick Huey, 52nd – Jeron Sinclair from Rayder Bennett). The Jays seemed back with energy after these “Tres Hombres” scored. In the 53rd minute, a free kick by Colton Harden was just high. In the 61st minute, a chance by Colton Harden was cleared by the defense. In the 69th minute, a pass from Trent Burks to Colton Harden in the box was slightly too long. A free kick by Clark Campbell in the 70th minute was cleared. In the 73rd minute, a nice run by Christian Harden did not quite work out. Keeper Nic Yonter ended the night with 13 saves. There was no more scoring as the game ended 1-4.

The J.V. had some fun in their game as Ryan Doolittle played in the goal in the first half, with only one ball finding the back of the net in the 3rd minute. Ryan ended up with 6 saves. In the second half, Calvin Birsa played keeper. 4 goals were scored, but Calvin had 6 saves and was able to entertain the crowd throughout the half. The game ended 0-5.

Without the lost five minutes, this game would still be going on against a very high quality Class 3 team. Let’s play a great 80 minutes tomorrow against Bolivar, at 4:30 p.m. in Bolivar.

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