By FRED KRONER
The Bulldogs were unable to score a goal on Monday (March 29) and dropped a 2-0 non-conference boys’ soccer decision at unbeaten Urbana.
The same teams played a year ago in a regional championship match.
“Urbana came out strong and looked to play the ball wide to isolate their big, physical striker,” M-S coach Jeremy Davis said. “The Bulldogs were able to defend it well in the first half, giving up a few chances.
“Meanwhile in the first half, Mahomet’s offense played disconnected, and wasn’t able to find each other in the final third that many times.”
The schools battled to a 0-0 draw in the first half.
“In the second half, the Bulldogs were able to adjust offensively to create more chances,” Davis said. “Unfortunately, they were never able to find the back of the net.
“Meanwhile, Urbana, who undoubtedly was the better team on the night, was able to transition between offense and defense faster than the Bulldogs, and were able to get two goals on the board.”
“Braeden Heinold and Koby Eisenmenger continued to have a strong showing on the backline,” Davis said. “Braeden had to shift into a central back position as the Bulldogs dealt with injuries in the backline.”
In the junior varsity match, M-S blanked Urbana, 2-0.
The Bulldogs regrouped quickly from the loss and handed visiting Charleston an 8-3 Apollo Conference setback on Tuesday (March 29). M-S led, 5-0, at halftime despite playing without three injured defensemen.
Senior Nate Lundstrom, who has a team-high 11 goals, scored a hat trick for M-S and also added two assists.
Eli Warren added three more points to his school-record total (now at 67), by scoring twice and assisting once.
Anthony Ramirez booted two goals. The other M-S score was by Logan Woodward, who also had an assist.
Clayton Gibson and Nick Tjahjadi registered one assist apiece.
Clayton Kessler posted a season-high eight saves. Keagon Ashby totaled one save.
“In the first half, the Bulldogs dominated top to bottom,” Davis said. “In the second half, the Bulldogs were able to give some much needed rest to guys that had played long minutes Monday night.”
Sophomore Mitchell McAnally and junior Andre Grace made their varsity debuts.
M-S (5-1-2) returns to action on Thursday (April 1) at Teutopolis. Urbana has a 6-0-3 season record.
In eight matches this season, the Bulldogs have yielded eight goals.
