The Perryville Pirates soccer team hit a bit of a stumbling block last week, falling 1-0 to visiting Farmington at The Bank of Missouri Soccer Complex in Perryville, but coach Jerry Fulton wasn’t upset about it.
“It was a heck of a game,’ Fulton said. “We played a very good Class 4 Farmington team. It’s very seldom as a coach that you’re not mad when you lose, but I was not mad when we lost because our guys played exceptionally well. Anytime a Class 2 team can stay with a Class 4 for that long and only give up one goal, they did well.”
That goal, which came with just 2:30 left on the game clock, allowed Farmington to improve to 11-3 on the season. The Pirates fell to 10-3. “I thought we had the better of the play for most of the evening,” Fulton said.
“I thought our guys were up to the task. We created several great opportunities, but we just couldn’t get one to go to the back of the net. Their keeper was very good.”
Perryville keeper Waylon Huber was no slouch either, finishing with 7 saves and 1 goal against in 80 minutes.
“Waylon played well,” Fulton said. “It wasn’t his fault that we got scored on. They were pretty close when that happened. He did his job and kept us in the game as long as he possibly could. Our defense played well. They just finally got one. We had chances — believe me, we had multiple, multiple chances — to get that game under control and take the lead first, and it just didn’t happen.”
Earlier last week, Perryville secured another Jefferson County Athletic Association conference title after winning a 4-0 shutout over host DeSoto.
Dez Hampson scored 2 goals for the Pirates, while Treyton Barnett and Ethan Pohlman added 1 each. Pohlman, Vincent Schaaf and Karsten Schill finished with 1 assist each. Huber recorded 4 saves in the shutout victory.
Perryville has three games left before beginning play in the Class 2, District 1 tournament, with scheduled matches against Fredericktown, Cape Central and Kennett.
Fulton said that as long as his team continues to play like they did against DeSoto and Farmington, he’s not concerned.
“If my guys play the way they played the last two games, I’m not worried about anybody,” Fulton said. “That’s the bottom line. It was pretty nice when I went through the line [Thursday], and Farmington’s coach pulls me in close, and he goes, ‘Hey, coach … go get you another state title. You guys are good.”
