Knights outplay Owls but lose on penalty kicks

By DONN ADAMSON
Daily Journal Sports Editor

FARMINGTON — The Farmington Knights soccer team turned on the afterburners late in the second half and it continued into the two overtime periods, only to finish in a 1-1 deadlock with the Windsor Owls. The Owls won the game on a  3-1 first penalty kick session.

The entire first half was mostly played between the 20 yard lines on Farmington’s football field (The soccer field includes the end zones as well). Neither team proved to be overpowering in their attack for the first 40 minutes and the score stood at 0-0 at the half.

Farmington’s offense picked up its pace in the second half, but the Owls were able to head off any concentrated attack by the Knights. The Knights were relentless in their attack forcing Windsor’s goalie T.J. Linder to make six of his eight saves in regulation during the half, and missing several scoring opportunities with shots that were just wide of the net.

On the other end, Farmington’s goalie John Schnurbusch had a lonely existence as he did not have to make a save during the 40-minute half.

However, the Owls scored first in the game. The Owls forwards gathered in a rebound off of a defensive stand that resulted in a four-on-three advantage heading up the field. Eric Downey was able to beat Farmington’s last defender and upon getting goalie John Schnurbusch to commit to a sliding stop attempt, Downey drilled the far side of the net for the score with only 10 minutes left in the game.

What was a solid attack before became even more intensified for the Knights as they were facing defeat with time running out. Again and again, the Knights pressured the Owls defense. Corner kicks and near-the-goal, throw-ins were abated over and over by either Linder or one of the defenders.

With only a minute left in regulation, Farmington’s Chris Lutsch drilled a free kick from near midfield down the middle to Brett Mell who headed the ball past Linder into the net.

The Knights kept up their intensity in the overtime periods, forcing Windsor to spend nearly the entire two 10-minute periods on their heels, trying not to lose the game. The Owls defense held, and the game went into the penalty-kick overtime with five players from each team going one-on-one with the other team’s goalie.

The Knights missed their first three shots, but the Owls Brock Gaylord and Wade Gaylord both made their kicks to give Windsor a 2-0 advantage. Mell, Farmington’s fourth kicker kept the Knights hopes alive as he drilled a ball past Linder, high on the right side.

The Knights hopes were soon dashed as Sean Marshall rifled his kick past goalie John Schnurbusch for the winner.

Farmington (1-1) will be back in action on Tuesday at Northwest.

Hillsboro 4, Fredericktown 1

Gustav’s rains had held off shortly after noon, and the varsity part of the Farmington soccer tourney was held as scheduled, but at 4:30 p.m., just a half-hour before the third-place game between the Fredericktown Blackcats and the Hillsboro Hawks, the rains came down, and they did not cease until nearly the end of the game.

Both teams were soaked, and players’ jerseys, which normally blow in the breeze when they run, were stuck fast to their bodies instead. Add to that, their footing which brought up water every time a player’s foot would try to stop or take off, and the two teams who were equally hampered, gave it their best under less than desirable conditions.

Playing defense most of the game, the Blackcats were unable to keep the Hawks out of their goal. Especially forward Bastian Thies, who turned the hat trick with first three scores for the Hawks. Thies scored his first two in the first half with goals at 11 and 28 minutes.

Rare opportunities were found by the Blackcats to get shots on goal in the first half. They nearly scored off of a corner kick, but Hawks’ goalie Mike Porterhouse thwarted the attempt.

Finally, with four minutes left in the half, the Blackcats’ forwards broke loose with the ball for a three-on-one advantage, and Ryly Roberts led the way drilling a shot past the outstretched hands of Porterhouse for the score.

The Blackcats had several opportunities to score in the second half, but shot after shot went over or wide of the goal instead.

Thies scored his hat-trick at the 67 minute mark, and only two minutes later, Mike Lampe rifled a kick from 35 yards out that evaded everyone including Blackcats’ goalie Tyler Hagy for the final score. Hagy made nine saves in the game.

Fredericktown (0-2) will travel to Kennett on Tuesday for its next game.