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10/27

Bulldogs season comes to an end with 4-1 district loss to Bolivar

The Liberators fended off an early opportunity by the Bulldogs when their goalkeeper was able to tip senior Caleb Dye’s header off the crossbar in the 2nd minute, an important save. 

Two minutes later the Liberator’s lost leading scorer (32) senior Peter Casey to injury. So when in the 9th minute, Adam Spaulding put Bolivar ahead 1-0 from Ryan Toombs cross, the Liberators were relieved.

It would take a quick opening second half however to give them the cushion needed against the upstart Bulldogs. The Liberators got their 2nd goal one minute in, Ryan Toombs from Matt Magnana’s corner kick; their 3rd by Nolan West in the 43rd minute; and the final goal in the 49th when Spaulding got his second, back-heeling to the near post a long throw-in by Magnana.

The Bulldogs got one back later in the game from a direct kick. 

10/25

Neosho tops CJ 3-2 in double-overtime

By Cody Thorn, The Neosho Daily News

The Neosho soccer team made Thursday not only memorable for the fans who witnessed the last home game of the year, but things turned out rather nicely for the seniors who were playing in their final home game at Lions Field.

Neosho's Jordan Blevins got a pass from Edgar Becerra and dribbled around Carl Junction goalie Richie Carson and scored an open-net goal with three minutes left in double overtime, giving the Wildcats a 3-2 come-from-behind victory on senior night.

The win was a long time in the waiting for the Wildcats, who have lost four straight and haven't won a game in nearly three weeks.

Neosho did a lot to pull out the win after falling behind 2-0 at halftime.

Playing in a steady rain throughout the second half, Neosho got a pair of goals to tie the game.

The first 10-minute overtime session yielded nothing, and with three minutes to go before penalty kicks, Blevins scored the game-winner.

"This is an awesome win for the seniors," said Neosho coach Steve Schnackenberg. "We came back and started doing the things we haven't been doing."

Carl Junction went up 2-0 in the first half, scoring only five minutes into the game on a goal from Caleb Dye.

Dye then passed to J.T. Chirwa for a goal with eight minutes to play before halftime.

The stats, at halftime, favored the Bulldogs in a big way. Carl Junction had four shots on goal - two goals - and Neosho managed only one shot.

Neosho (8-10) started to chip away at Carl Junction's offense early in the second half, and it was a forecast of things to come.

In the 48th minute, Manuel "Chaua" Ohajaca beat Carson in the box, but the ball was kicked away. In the 50th minute, Neosho had a shot go wide right of the goal.

The Wildcats got on the board in the 58th minute when senior Scott White scored the team's first goal.

Neosho got a corner kick and Becerra booted it into the goalie box. White headed the ball and it fell to the ground, where he kicked it in.

Neosho trailed with 10 minutes left in the game when Becerra shifted momentum into his team's favor.

Becerra got a loose ball near midfield on Carl Junction's side and dribbled before turning and booming a kick toward the goal. The high, arching kick sailed just beneath the top of the crossbar and fell into the net.

The game was tied at 2-2 in the 80th minute.

Carl Junction didn't give up though, but Neosho goalie Jake Welsh came up with a big save in the final minutes. Welsh dove to his left to block a shot and his hands deflected the ball - which was headed for the right post - out to force overtime.

Neosho had the only shot in overtime, as a penalty kick early into the extra session sailed over the cross bar.

In double overtime, things got interesting for a few reasons.

Neosho had four straight shots on goal to open the second overtime and then four fans got thrown out of the game for walking behind the goal.

After a short delay, play resumed and Blevins scored the game-winner.

Neosho had nine shots on the goal, eight coming in the second half and overtime. Carl Junction had six shots on goal, only two in the second half and overtime.

Welsh had four saves in goal, while Carson had six saves.

Neosho honored seniors Cody McConnaughey, D.J. Welsh, Thomas Cuppett, White, Becerra, Julian Geile, Jon Sandlin, Andere Edwards, Adam Saunders, Chris Gaudet and Jeorge Bonilla.

In the junior varsity game, Neosho prevailed 3-1 thanks to a pair of second-half goals.

Neosho's Jared Hill scored on a pass from Austin Daley in the 19th minute of the first half to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.

Frankie Merrick scored a goal in the 52nd minute for Neosho, and then the Wildcats got their final goal on an own goal.
 

10/20

The Class 2 District 5 soccer schedule has been announced.  The Carl Junction Bulldogs received the #7 seed in the 9-team field, taking on the host Bolivar Liberators (#2) at 3:00 Saturday.

The district actually gets underway on Friday, October 26, when #8 Marshfield takes on #9 Willard at 4:30.

Other first round games include #1 Cassville vs the winner of Friday's game (at 11:00 am Saturday), followed by the 1:00 contest between #4 Carthage and #5 Webb City.  Following Carl Junction's 3:00 game, #3 West Plains battles #6 Monett.

The semi-finals are set for Monday, October 29 and the championship scheduled for Wednesday, October 31.

10/16

Seth Summerlin, with an assist from J.T. Chirwa, scored at the 15-minute mark in the second half to lift the Bulldogs past the Aurora Houn' Dawgs 1-0.

Carl Junction (6-7) had 21 shots on goal, compared to six for Aurora (2-15).

10/11

Cassville received first-half goals from Ryan Schlichtman and Uziel Franco to beat Carl Junction 2-0 Thursday.

Carl Junction plays Tuesday at Aurora.

10/1

“I thought we came out flat in the first half,” Kemper said. “We didn’t really hustle.”

Just two minutes into the second, it looked as if things were starting to unravel for the Eagles. The Bulldogs tied things up on John Chirwa’s unassisted goal, and suddenly the momentum seemed to build.

The Joplin defense was having none of it, though; the Eagles held Carl Junction to just four shots on goal in the second half.

Joplin’s offense came alive after Chirwa’s score. For the first time, the Eagles managed to get several good looks at the net and kept applying pressure on the Bulldogs.

“We’ve got some pretty good guys (on defense),” Miller said. “They know their roles. They did a pretty good job shutting them down man-to-man.”

The win pushes Joplin to 10-4, and gives it some steam heading into tonight’s game against Kickapoo at JHS.  

The Chiefs, considered the top team in the area, figure to give Miller’s squad a handful.

“It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win,” Miller said. “We definitely need to come out and play better against Kickapoo. I was pleased with our intensity in the second half, and that’s how we need to play if we are going to win (today).”

9/27

Dexter Short and Seth Summerlin had two goals each as the Bulldogs romped to a 10-0 nonconference victory over Pittsburg in a match called 10 minutes early because of the margin.

Nii Abrahams, J.T. Chirwa, Caleb Dye, Kurt Herron, Logan Landis and Nathan Wilson added single goals for the Bulldogs (4-4). Landis had a pair of assists and Richie Carson was credited with nine saves.

Carl Junction visits Joplin on Monday, then entertains Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday.

9/20

9/18

Uziel Franco scored all three goals, including the winning tally late in the second half, to spark undefeated Cassville past the Bulldogs 3-2.

Franco scored first and Carl Junction’s J.T. Chirwa followed with a goal to leave the score deadlocked at halftime.

The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead on Patrick Chism’s goal in the final period before Franco chipped in the final two goals. All goals were unassisted.

Cassville goal keeper Anthony Larson had seven saves, while Richie Carson collected six for Carl Junction.

9/11

Story and Photo from The Carthage Press

"Carl Junction had one shot in the first half and one goal," Rogers said. "They got off three shots in the second half, but none were very threatening."

The Tigers had trouble throughout the match capitalizing on their opportunities of open nets.

"We had a penalty kick and it hit the bar in the back of the net at one point," Rogers said. "It came out and it was ruled a no goal. I don't know how you put it, but we had some frustrations."

The Tigers were able to put the game away against the Nixa Eagles during the home opener, but weren't able to do that against the Bulldogs.

"We got two great goals, but we should of had a lot more," Rogers said. "We just couldn't put anything in the back of the net."

The Bulldog's goal keeper Richie Carson spent most of the night knocking down one Tiger shot on goal after another.

"Carson made some good saves on some hard shots," Rogers said. "He did a great job."

Carthage improved to 3-0 with its win over Carl Junction.

9/6

Senior TJ Martin, a center midfielder/forward, scored two goals as the Cardinals hiked their record to 7-0.

Martin, assisted by Drew Henderson, gave the Cardinals a 1-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, Martin, who connected from an estimated 35 yards, and Michael Handley had unassisted goals for the Cardinals.

Goalie Justin Boudreaux logged five saves for Webb City.

8/30

Four first-half goals were all the Bulldogs needed to get past College Heights in both teams’ season opener.

Carl Junction’s Seth Summerlin scored the game’s first goal on an assist from Kurt Herron early in the first half. Dexter Short found the net a short time later after re-directing a pass from teammate Patrick Chism to make it 2-0.

Nii Abrahams added an unassisted goal to make it 3-0 in the first and J.T. Chirwa made it 4-0 when he found the net on an Abrahams assist right before the half.

Summerlin added his second goal in the second half on an assist from Nathan Wilson and Logan Landis blasted a goal to cap the Bulldogs’ scoring.

Micah Funderburg recorded both Cougars goals, each of which were assisted by Cameron Cales in the second half.

Richie Carson recorded 10 saves for the Bulldogs. Ethan Clouse added 13 saves for College Heights.