Boys soccer

MMA gets kicks in to defeat Boonville 2-0

Boonville did not want Missouri Military Academy to have many scoring chances Tuesday night.

Still, the Colonels found a way to win 2-0 on Senior Night after two of their seniors scored as a result of a foul. Kellan Mugisha capitalized on a penalty kick 26 minutes into the game, and the captain Afane curved a free kick into the net 62 minutes into the contest.

MMA (9-4-2) outshot Boonville 18-10 and 10-4 on shots on goal and broke its two-game scoreless streak going into the day that included a 0-0 tie Oct. 6 at home against Canton and a 3-0 loss Thursday at Camdenton.

Head coach Eliot Goodwin said MMA obviously had been working through scoring struggles in the previous two weeks. He said it was nice to see two of the team’s seven seniors take advantage of the prime opportunities the Colonels had.

“It’s a nice sendoff for the boys and the seniors with the last game here on the field,” Goodwin said. “(Boonville) came with a game plan to just defend and make it difficult for us in that first half, but we found the goal that we needed to give us that little bit of extra kick.”

Goodwin is referring to the goal by Mugisha, who tallied his seventh goal of the season with the successful penalty kick. The Pirates (3-10) were content with crowding the front of the net to provide MMA’s strikers with much traffic. Mugisha encountered some on the right side of the goal but was making a move to pass the defender before being pulled down.

With no Pirate blocking the net, it was a showdown between Mugisha and the Boonville goalkeeper that Colonel senior won easily, pumping his first after breaking the scoreless streak. 

“They came with that game plan, and they executed it very well,” Goodwin said. “They kept us out for probably 30 minutes or so and tried to make it frustrating for us, which they did. Getting the penalty and things like that helped us gain that little momentum we needed before half.”

MMA now has more wins than each of the previous three seasons with a Thursday game at Class 4 Battle (9-7-2) scheduled as its final game before the district tournament. Goodwin said the group honored prior to the game Tuesday are a big reason why the Colonels are in the position they are this season.

“That’s the senior group that came in when I first started coaching here,” Goodwin said. “Those boys have been really good and really helpful to me so a big thanks to them. We’re all where we’re at because of some of those guys. We’ve got nine wins on the season now, and those guys have contributed massively toward that. I can’t thank them enough for it.”

Look for the full story in the Oct. 22, 2022, edition of The Mexico Ledger and on the website on the same day.

Bulldogs snap losing streak on penalty kicks at Moberly

Mexico had to work for it, but its eight-game losing streak is over.

The Bulldogs came from behind Monday to eventually play two overtime periods and best North Central Missouri Conference foe Moberly 3-2 on penalty kicks, ending a winless drought in conference games since a 1-0 victory Sept. 12 against Moberly. Mexico was down 2-0 at halftime before tying the game early in the second half and converting three penalty kicks, with Brendan McKeown’s going as the game-winner.

About seven minutes deep into the second half, Fernando Guzman scored to cut Moberly’s lead in half. In the 12th minute, Gage Walker knotted the score in the matchup between district opponents. 

Time ran out on regulation, then the first overtime period and then the second overtime period. It was then time to decide a winner, which McKeown sealed but goalkeeper Emille Scanavino secured after three blocked penalty shots — one in overtime and two in the shootout. Scanavino and Walker were each successful on penalty kicks, if the Spartans had matched Mexico shot-for-shot.

Mexico improved its record against district opponents to 2-5 going into Tuesday’s home game with district foe Wright City (10-4-1).

State golf

Mexico’s Rowe improves on second day, tournament

Mexico’s Kennedi Rowe had a better two days in Bolivar than Columbia.

Rowe competed in her second straight girls golf state tournament after finishing 37th a year ago at Columbia Country Club. This year, at Silo Ridge Country Club in Bolivar, Rowe shot a 194, or 50-over par, to finish in a three-way tie for 29th place out of 81 golfers. 

Rowe posted a better second day score of 95, sinking four pars on the day, for the senior to close her final state tournament 14 strokes out of all-state honors — was 26 strokes out last year. Eldon’s Avery Wells snagged the final top-15 spot after shooting a 180 over two days, with an 88 happening on Day 2. Marshfield’s Marlene Edgeman won the individual championship after finishing with a two-day score of 144, or even par.

After Day 1, Rowe was eight strokes out of all-state positioning after shooting a 99, or 27-over par, and was tied with seven other golfers in 31st place. Rowe had five straight holes on the front nine with a double-bogey finish or worse but also had eight bogeys and three pars on the day, posting a 52, or 16-over par, on the front nine and a 47 on the back nine.

Rowe’s back-nine score didn’t change on Day 2 but made improvements on the first nine holes, in particular on the fifth and eighth holes. She finished with a par on both holes after taking a double-bogey and bogey, respectively, on the first day for a front-nine score of 48.

Nevada’s Emree Cameron led after the first round after shooting a 71, or one-under par, tallying five birdies — four on the back nine for the score of 34, or two-under par — and 10 pars. She finished two strokes behind Edgeman.

Centralia’s Stephens, Pace finish first foray at Class 2 state tournament

Centralia Tess Stephens and Bailey Pace were in familiar territory Monday and Tuesday.

The Class 2 girls golf state tournament was a new experience for each of the junior Lady Panthers but were both back at Silo Ridge Country Club in Bolivar after competing on the same course during last year’s Class 1 tournament. Stephens finished in a tie for 57th out of 81 golfers after shooting a 208, or 64-over par, to close 28 strokes out of all-state honors. Pace sat at 70th place with a 221, or 77-over par, struggling to recover from Day 1.

Stephens was at the state tournament again after advancing to last year’s Class 1 tournament as a team, making this year the first time she has qualified as an individual. In Stephens’ return to Silo Ridge, she shot a 101, or 29-over par, to tie her with five other golfers for 42nd place and position her 10 strokes out of all-state honors. Stephens began the Class 1 tournament last year by shooting a 99.

Stephens finished with two pars, both on the front nine, to contribute to her first nine-hole score of 51, or 15-over par, before shooting a 50 on the back nine. She also collected eight double-bogey-or-worse finishes. 

On Day 2, Stephens took a par within the first three holes again — this time on the par-five third hole — and eventually had the same 51 at the end of the front nine after another par on the par-four ninth hole. On the back nine, Stephens was able to finish the par-four 15th hole with a par to give one more than the previous day but struggled with the rest for a 56 to finish the second day with a worse 107.

After meeting the individual state-qualifying requirements last year, Pace missed out on all-state honors by three strokes after shooting a two-day score of 203 at Silo Ridge. In the first round of this year’s Class 2 tournament, Pace struggled to a 112, or 40-over par, to position her in 69th place with two other golfers and 21 strokes out of all-state honors. 

On the back nine, Pace birdied the par-four 15th hole. However, she had 12 double-bogey-or-worse finishes and five bogeys on the day to have a front-nine score of 57, or 21-over par, and a 55 on the back nine.

Pace didn’t have a par or better on a single hole during Day 2 but had a better score of 109. The worst finish she had on a hole was a triple bogey twice after having a quadruple-bogey three times on the first day.

Cross country

Mexico boys runner-up, girls in third at Autumn Classic

Mexico’s runners showed up in their second home meet of the year.

The boys finished second with 68 points — behind winner Helias Catholic’s 42 points — because of the runner-up finish by North Central Missouri Conference champion Thomas Peuster and three other top-20 finishes. The girls took third place at 83 points, trailing winner St. Dominic’s 34 points and Helias Catholic’s 62 points, and had four place in the top 20.

Peuster ran to a time of 17:43.66, which was only slower than Eldon’s Nathan Reynolds and his time of 17:03.16. The Bulldog closest behind Peuster was Tyler Grimes with a seventh-place time of 18:33.67. Andrew Peuster with a 10th-place time of 18:50.43, and Kaden Wilson with a 17th-place mark of 19:18.12 rounded out the top 20 for the boys.

Maggie Ramsey had the best time for the Mexico girls, finishing 11th at 22:09.36. The other three top-20 girls were close behind Ramsey as well as close together. Sidney Turlington was 12th with a time of 22:22.03, Viviana Benjamin finished 17th with a time of 22:47.81 and Kalea Henneberry placed 18th with a time of 22:49.47.

Eldon also had the individual winner for the girls 5,000 meters in Zoe Martonfi and her time of 19:10.22.