BULLPUP KICKERS LOSE TO MAIZE SOUTH!
By William for www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
(Post is SPONSORED BY CROSSDOVE WRITERS)
MAIZE – That first lose of the season arrived on Saturday for the McPherson High boys soccer team as they battled with host Maize South in the Maize South Invitational Championship game and came home with a 3-1 loss.
Despite the loss, the Bullpups never gave up even when trailing 3-0 with just 20 minutes left to play. That is when McPherson took advantage of the wind and Tyler Hoxie nailed a free kick from 40 yards out to finally get the Bullpups on the scoreboard.
“Going with the wind in the second half enabled us to put a lot more pressure on Maize South,” noted Bullpup Head Coach Chris Adrian. “We passed the ball better, but you could see the boys were feeling the fatigue of their third competitive game in just five days. The score was 3-0 Maize with about twenty minutes to go but this team once again wouldn’t give up. Tyler (Hoxie) scored a free kick to the team some hope. Maize South then went down a man after picking up a red card for fouling Drew (Schrader) on a breakaway, but we couldn’t find a way through.”
Overall, the Bullpups fired off nine shots on goal while Nathan Lloyd made eight saves in goal.
Coach Adrian continued his post-invitational reflections by saying, “We went into a strong wind during the first half. Nathan (Lloyd) was huge once again and made some great saves including a penalty kick save right before halftime which kept the game at just 1-0. Caden (Hardgrave) and Wesley (Wurm) played through sickness and faced some of the best attackers in the state. I was really impress with the toughness these two showed when they obviously weren’t feeling well. Jael (Jaime) played his first game back after an ankle injry and even though he wasn’t 100%, he helped the team a lot today.”
“Today wasn’t the result we were hoping for,” said Coach Adrian as he concluded his reflections. “But it was the type of game that will help this team grow and improve. Maize South was quick and skilled which kept us on our heels. I saw a lot of positives from the performance as several players stepped up their game for the occasion. Maize South was the state runner-up last year and these Bullpups now know they can compete with a team like the Mavericks.”
The local fans will not see much of the Bullpup kickers in the upcoming week as they will be on the road both Tuesday at Rose Hill, and Thursday, at Salina Central. Next home match will come on Tuesday, September 24 when they play host to Mulvane.
(Copyright@2019-CrossDove Writers)
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