By Murray Gleffe, Sports Correspondent
The Jaguar soccer team stayed with the Wrightstown Tigers for 72 minutes of the contest. Unfortunately, a soccer game lasts 90 minutes! The Tigers struck for two late goals to capture the non-conference game 2-0.
The Jaguars and Tigers played scoreless soccer in the first stanza with the Tigers generating most of the scoring opportunities. In the 20th minute, the Tigers Tyler Mierow took the ball around a Jaguar defender and ripped a shot on goal. Jaguar goaltender Anthony Perdue punched the ball away and out of play. The Jaguars got a look in the 32nd minute when Kevin Garcia Espinoza hammered a ball in from 20 yards out from the left half of the Tigers field. The Tigers goaltender made the save with ease and the scoring chances went away till the 41st minute. The Tigers looked like they were going to take a one goal lead when forward Drew Ernst had a breakaway on goal. Perdue made an incredible save and it preserved the 0-0 score heading into halftime.
The second half started with Jaguars midfielder Matt Hockers getting a shot on goal that went over the goalpost and into the netting at Cornerstone. In the 60th minute, two Tiger forwards beat Jaguar defenders down the field. However, Calvin Hansen hesitated and the offensive chance disappeared when Jaguar defender and captain Kole Kolinski came clear across the field to turn the ball away toward the sidelines. With twenty minutes remaining in the contest (the game still scoreless), Jaguars forward Tyler Roethlisberger took a pass from Freshman Aiden Christensen and danced around not one, but two Tiger defenders. He made a move on the last and curved a ball in on goal. Luckily, for the Tigers, their goaltender cheated to the left side to make the save.
The Tigers finally struck in the 73rd minute. The Jaguar starters were starting to suck air after only having minimal subs for the game, and Tiger forward Daniel Neerdaels made them pay. Neerdaels took a pass in the front half of the Jaguars half and went all the way to the back part of the line. For all intent purposes, the Jaguar defenders thought he had stepped out, but Neerdaels kept in bounds and somehow shot the ball into the goal from an almost impossible angle. It put the Tigers up 1-0 with just 18 minutes left in the game. The Jaguars received one more good look in the 81st minute when Sophomore Austin Dolphin feathered a nice pass to a hard-cutting Adam Cecchi. Cecchi got a clean look on goal but again it was corralled by the Tigers goaltender. The Tigers added a late goal by Chaco Madrigal to capture the win over the Jaguars by a two-goal margin. The Jaguars fall to 4-8 on the season and will be back in action when they host Kenosha Tremper on the turf at Goelz Field.