The Joplin Eagles made the Carthage Tigers sweat for about 20 minutes of playing time during the second half of their Central Ozark Conference match on Tuesday night, until Carthage junior Welle Welle put in a header off an Eric Garcia corner for a 3-1 lead with 6 minutes, 36 seconds remaining in regulation.
Welle apparently put in his third goal of the match as time expired, but the referee did not count it because he said Welle did not get off his kick before the buzzer, resulting in a 3-1 win for the Tigers.
“We didn’t do a very good job of finishing tonight,” Carthage coach Jacob Osborne said. “We had at least, I don’t know how many, three or four chances that we should have put away and we didn’t. We had time, we were able to get our heads up, just didn’t place the ball where we needed to and put it too close to the keeper.
“Joplin, they always play us tough. Since we let them hang around, once they got that goal, that made it scary and they really amped up the pressure. Our kids did a good job too to bounce back after that and to get back under control and start to play again, because there for a pretty big stretch there we struggled.”
Carthage built a 2-0 halftime lead thanks to a goal from Welle and assist from Edson Lopez nearly 14 minutes in and a header from George Laytham with an assist by Danilo Lopez at 8:46 before the half.
Early in the second half, Joplin cut the deficit in half with a goal by Adam Badr and assist by Adam Montanez.
“We were a shell of ourselves in the first half, unrecognizable from the standard that we set for ourselves,” Joplin coach Josh Thompson said. “The second half, I think the team responded well to our adjustments and we stopped playing scared. We were able to get Carthage on their back foot for a little bit in the second half, which was a good change, but it just wasn’t quite enough.
“We definitely had several opportunities that would have evened it up. The balls were maybe two or three inches either direction. Their keeper did a great job, and their defenders back there had good deflections, good blocks. We definitely had the type of pressure that we were seeking to put on them, for a good stretch there in the second half.”
Carthage finished with a 26-24 advantage overall in shots and Carthage senior Julio Lopez and Joplin freshman Toby Ipsen each finished with 12 saves.
“We had our freshman keeper in there today,” Thompson said. “This was his biggest varsity experience so far. Our senior keeper Andrew Jordan wasn’t 100 percent today. Proud of him for being able to step into those shoes and perform well. Then, second half, the defense was able to figure out some of their issues, resolve a lot of them, and put a very good attacking team shut down for a little while.”
Carthage improved to 12-2 overall and 5-1 COC, and the Tigers extended their winning streak to seven entering Thursday’s match at home against Kickapoo.
“Second district game we’ve had this year and that made it extra important because we only have three district games before we actually get to the district tournament,” Osborne said of the win Tuesday. “That makes all the district games important.
“Saturday was big, playing Lee’s Summit West. They’re one of the favorites in our district, and getting a win, it was a very tough game. It was good to be able to step on the field and see that we can play with them.”
Joplin, meanwhile, dropped to 9-5 overall and 3-3 COC, and the Eagles return home this weekend to host their annual varsity invitational tournament.
