The Fulton Hornets enhanced their case for a No. 1 district seed by holding off the Kirksville Tigers in a 3-2 North Central Missouri Conference victory Saturday at the high school athletic complex.
Fulton avenged a 3-2 loss Sept. 22 at Kirksville, raising its season record to 12-5 and squaring its NCMC mark at 4-4. The Hornets and Tigers are both in the Class 2 District 6 Tournament, scheduled for later this month at Moberly.
The district also includes Mexico and Boonville. Fulton is now 5-2 this season against District 6 opponents, including two victories against Boonville, a win against Moberly and a split with Mexico.
The Hornets play again Thursday at Moberly, but the district seeding will be known before that matchup.
"This definitely puts us in position (to be the No. 1 seed) and we feel really confident," Fulton head coach Joel Henley said after Saturday's victory. We've done everything we possibly can - we're right where we want to be."
The Hornets jumped in front in the 7th minute of the first half Saturday when junior forward Alban Dervishi scored off an assist by senior midfielder Seth Windsor. Freshman forward Christian Mahoro's goal in the 27th minute - assisted by senior forward Mason Crane - made it 2-0.
Kirksville cut its deficit in half with a goal in the 37th minute, but junior defender Dillon Jones gave Fulton a 3-1 edge when he scored off a free kick in the 18th minute of the second half.
The Tigers tacked on their final goal in the 21st minute, but the Hornets were able to close out the narrow win.
Fulton outshot Kirksville 17-8, including 10-4 in shots on goal.
"The wind was brutal and the ball was doing weird things in the air," Henley said. "This was one of those mental toughness games that we needed to have, and the guys did a really good job of playing through that."
The Hornets (3-6-3) won the junior varsity game 3-0, getting three goals from freshman midfielder Jayden Ayers. Christian Mahoro, junior forward Jesse Peterson and sophomore forward Josh Narancich each had assists.
Fulton travels to Hannibal for an NCMC contest at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The Hornets lost to the Pirates 3-2 on Sept. 24 in Fulton.