JACKSON – Saxony Lutheran finished its home regular season on the soccer pitch with two wins. The Crusaders beat North County 5-0 on senior night and Bayless 3-1 in the final home game of the year.
In the win over North County, goals were scored by Bryce Meyer, Colton Cissell, Liem Nations and Ben Paniamogan. Nick Chambliss, Kobe Meyer, Addison Verseman and Bryce Meyer had assists. Goalkeeper Austin Fulford led the defense to its 7th clean sheet of the season as well.
Thursday night’s game against Bayless started slow for the Crusaders, with the Bronchos dominating possession through most of the first half. The Bayless offense did not record a goal, but they took a 1-0 lead midway through the half with an accidental own goal that just got past Fulford. The Crusader sideline did not believe the goal was saved and should not have counted, but the referee’s decision could not be changed.
Saxony responded, tying the game on a Bryce Meyer goal with an assist from Nick Chambliss with just under 4 minutes until halftime.
Coming out of halftime, the Crusaders found a new intensity, attacking with their usual speed and taking the lead six minutes into the second half on an unassisted Liem Nations goal.
Nations would add another goal to give the Crusaders a 3-1 lead 7 minutes later. Chambliss was given an assist. The score would remain 3-1 despite several chances by the Crusader offense, including an empty net in the final 2 minutes.
Crusaders assistant coach Garret Fritsche before the game, he wasn’t seeing the intensity he wanted from the team, but they found it after the slow start.
“They have the potential to really play, and tonight, after the first six or eight minutes, they finally figured it out,” Fritsche said. “When they play as a team, they’re tough to beat. They’re there for each other. So they started off slow, but then they quickly figured it out. They let up that goal. Unfortunately, what the right call is, I don’t know, it’s not my call, you just got to play, and they showed up after that first little bit, and they flat out played. It was very fun to watch the scoreboard. In my opinion, it doesn’t reflect how they played. They could have gotten a few more, but the chances are there.”
With the win, the Crusaders improve to 9-6 overall and 6-4 at home with 2 games remaining, both on the road. The district tournament will begin on Oct. 31. The Crusaders will play Jennings in the first round, who are 0-14 as of Oct. 23. Fritsche said he sees a lot of potential for the Crusaders to make a run, but nothing can be taken for granted.
“You just have to have that kind of killer mentality every game,” he said. “You get to play two games next week and then it goes into the postseason, no matter who they play they have to come ready to play together. They have potential, whether or not they hit it is yet to be seen, but if they play together, they’re going to do great things.”
The two remaining regular season games for the Crusaders will be at Poplar Bluff on Oct. 27 and at Lutheran St. Charles on Oct. 29.
