Fulton boys soccer executed its game plan to a T -- dribbling past defenders, passing and pressing for goals. The Hornets beat Warrenton 6-1 Saturday in Fulton.
Accounting for four of Fulton's goals were Christian Mahoro and Jayden Ayers. In the first half Mahoro bagged a brace, while Ayers did so in the second half.
Throughout most of the first half, Fulton was in possession and put plenty of chances on goal.
The Hornets may have been the team with more chances, but the Warriors found the next first.
Intercepting the ball from Fulton, Warrenton's Bryan Guerrero hustled down the pitch with the ball at his feet, then made a pass to Santiago Cano who scored the first goal of the match in the sixth minute. From the right part of the pitch -- just outside the penalty area -- Cano netted his goal opposite post.
Well, Fulton was having none of it as the Hornets kept their foot on the pedal and worked tirelessly to get past Warrenton's defense. Eventually, Fulton would get the goal they were so badly looking for.
Hornets forward Ayers made some brilliant dribbles past a few Warriors defenders, then passed to Bahir Sherzad who scored Fulton's first goal in the 17th minute.
The Hornets weren't done yet. More than anyone else on the field, Mahoro worked nonstop to get Fulton some goals.
After an unlucky shot that went off the left post, Mahoro soon found the net. With 20 minutes left in the second half, Mahoro sent Fulton in front by scoring his second-chance shot.
"Christian did what we kind of expected him to do," Fulton coach Joel Henley said. "We knew from watching them on film that they gave a lot of room in the midfield. And giving a kid like that a lot of room in the midfield is probably not the best idea."
Mahoro didn't stop there, the Hornets midfielder kept running all around the field and dribbling past Warrenton, looking for another goal. For the second time in the half, Mahoro did just that.
On a relentless attacking run past a couple of Warrenton players, Mahoro finished off his brace by scoring a right-footed finesse shot to the right of Warriors goalkeeper Owen Thompson. It was a crucial goal for Fulton since it put them up 3-1 with only a minute before halftime.
"We kind of expect that out of Christian," Henley said. "It's crazy to say but those are the routine performances that we expect out of him. And yet, you see it at the same time and you know that that's a big performance."
More of the same scoring-wise happened in the second half but with more attacking numbers this time. The Hornets scored another three goals and a second Fulton player netted a brace.
"We talked about at halftime, we didn't feel like we were getting enough numbers in the attack," Henley said. "We were having a lot of opportunities, but we were finding ourselves with one person with the ball and then nobody in the box. And so we made sure we talked about that at halftime, and I felt like in the second half we really made the adjustment."
To start the final 40 minutes, Warrenton's defense played more physical, doing what they could to gain possession -- which lead to the Warriors receiving two yellow cards, instead of the goals they wanted.
Fulton didn't need more goals but it still scored some and that all started on a Mahoro free kick in the 54th minute. Mahoro's free kick from the left side of the pitch found Luke Holland, who headed the ball home and made it 4-1 Hornets.
Led by Ayers in the attack, Fulton found the net two more times thanks to its No. 11.
Ayers scored his first in the 60th minute on a penalty that went to the right corner of the net. Then, Ayers concluded his brace in the 73rd minute on an easy goal with Warrenton's goalkeeper out of the net
"Jayden did well playing through the physicality," Henley said. "If you look at all three games we've had this week, they've all three been really physical. And our guys have really responded well to that. They haven't been super upset by it. They've just kind of continued to play and continue to fight through it. And Jaden, probably more than anybody else."
The Hornets' attack was the main story of Saturday's match. In addition to that, goalkeeper Dominick Tharp answered the call filling in for Grant Avery who picked up an injury against Hannibal Thursday.
Tharp has mainly played forward this season, though he has experience manning the net in two matches this season and mainly played goalkeeper his freshman year.
Against the Warriors, Tharp stopped 10 shots on 11 attempts, which was a team-high for saves in a match this season.
"He just kind of goes with the flow on it," Henley said. "And we talked with him the other day and just said, 'Hey, are you ready to do this?' And, and he said, 'If I've got to do it, I'll do it. I'll take it and go on.' And he did a great job for us in goal today. He's gonna be there until Grant is back. He's just gonna have to keep giving us performances like that."
The fact Tharp saved 10 shots sounds like a lot in of itself, Warrenton's goalkeeper was even busier on the other side. Fulton registered 31 shots (19 on goal), and Warriors goalkeeper Thompson saved 13 shots.
Next up, Fulton (8-2-1) will play North Central Missouri Conference opponent Moberly (0-8) at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Fulton.
"It's special playing Moberly really too because we've got former assistant Bridger Pretz coming back; coaching that team," Henley said. "And having him back on a night that we feel is really special, is special too. I know our guys are gonna be glad to see him again. At the same time, I know that they're gonna want to take it to him."
What makes the night even more special is it being Fulton's Super Sam Gold Rush Night, supporting the Super Sam Foundation. Super Sam is a pediatric cancer foundation with a mission focused on raising awareness, funding and support for families.
"It's our Super Sam Gold Rush Night and Super Sam has been kind of the organization we've been with the last couple of years," Henley said. "And working to help them raise money and Ezra Shaeffer's a kid that we got to know this summer a little bit here. He's a young kid at Busch that has childhood cancer and wasn't able to come to our soccer camp this summer. So it's a special night for us."