Mexico boys soccer has defeated Fulton.
The Bulldogs were able to say that after a game against their North Central Missouri Conference rival and district for the first time in 10 meetings following a 3-2 overtime victory at Chris Hotop Field. Mexico (2-0) won its home opener thanks largely to a hat trick by senior Gage Walker, who converted on two penalty kicks -- one to tie the game at 2 in the 78th minute and one to win the game with about nine seconds left in the 10-minute overtime period. Walker scored his first goal in the 19th minute to tie the game at 1 at the time. Luke Holland scored both Fulton (0-2) goals.
"It's a 50/50 or wherever the keeper goes," Walker said about his penalty kicks. "I made it that side one time so might as well do it again. Probably didn't think I'm going there again so I'm just going to hammer it."
"We talked about how we were a lot faster than those defenders," head coach Bill Gleeson said about the second-half emphasis on speed. "We needed to have quicker passes so they could get those scores in, either the dribble pass or kick it over the top so that we could run and get the ball to make those scores."
Look for the full story in the Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, edition of the Mexico Ledger.