Mexico knew where it wanted the ball and kept it there on Monday.
The Bulldogs won 2-1 against North Central Missouri Conference and Class 2 District 5 rival Fulton (6-8, 1-5 NCMC) on Monday at …
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Mexico knew where it wanted the ball and kept it there on Monday.
The Bulldogs won 2-1 against North Central Missouri Conference and Class 2 District 5 rival Fulton (6-8, 1-5 NCMC) on Monday at Chris Hotop Field. They maintained the lead after scoring the first goal three minutes before halftime to snap a nine-game losing streak.
Before that losing streak, Mexico (4-11, 1-6 NCMC) lost 3-2 at Fulton in early September after a “very hesitant” performance, according to head coach Bill Gleeson. This time, Gleeson said that wasn’t going to happen.
“Last game, we gave them the middle a lot, and that’s where they beat us,” Gleeson said. “We really focused on closing up the middle and shutting any kind of passes down in the middle and making them work to the outside.”
Alex Rodriguez scored Mexico’s first goal, and Brixton Goerne added another six minutes into the second half. Angel Muralles assisted on both of those goals.
Grant Walker allowed one goal in the 66th minute to Fulton team captain Luke Holland but made 10 saves. Walker liked the defense better in this rematch.
“We were talking,” Walker said. “That was our main thing today. We were using our lines and keeping the ball controlled. We were winning the ball and keeping it controlled.”
Gleeson said the back line had to step up because Mexico was down two starters. One player had to sit out after being issued a fifth yellow card and another had to go to the dentist. Houston Fowler and Wyatt Wilson filled in and did their jobs well, according to Gleeson.
Fowler especially caught Gleeson’s eye because, for someone playing his first year of soccer, the junior is making a case to start.
“They play some but aren’t normally starters,” Gleeson said. “I felt they stepped up their game tonight.”
Walker has been a main fixture in the defense all season, giving Mexico another defender. The senior was a defender prior to minding the net full-time and will still occasionally venture a fair distance away from the net to play the ball.
“It was pretty natural,” Walker said about changing from a defender to a goalkeeper. “Sometimes, you’re doing the same stuff. Like, in the box, you’re using your feet and also ball movement and which way people are going to step.”
Gleeson said Muralles stood out on the offensive side because he was such a key player in Mexico’s first meeting with Fulton. The sophomore had a goal in the first meeting and thrived as a facilitator when he set up two of Mexico’s biggest offensive weapons Rodriguez and Goerne.
“They were geared up for him,” Gleeson said. “A lot of time, what he did was draw the defense away so we could work. They were going to him, and he would just feed it in.”
Walker said there was “much more of a fight” after Mexico’s losing streak, and it feels great not to lose a third straight game against Fulton.
Gleeson said getting out of “the rut” of Mexico’s recent losing streak will hopefully “jump-start” the team going into districts, which begin early next month.
“We did a really good job tonight of talking and getting those passes going and connecting,” Gleeson said. “That really was the key — that talking and connecting.”
