The Fulton girls soccer team was involved in a low-scoring affair Thursday against the Moberly Lady Spartans.
Senior Karsyn Arthur scored the only goal of the game in the 15th minute of the second half for a 1-0 victory in the North Central Missouri Conference contest at Fulton High School.
Fulton coach Joel Henley said he noticed Moberly was down a couple of players, including a defensive player who made a difference in Fulton's last game against Moberly, so the team made it a point to keep the pressure on. Moberly won the last meeting 1-0.
"We realized we really needed to push up on the offensive end, and we did that," Henley said. "We got lots of opportunities. We had tons of shots in the first half, just didn't put anything in the goal."
The Lady Hornets had 15 shots, with five of them on goal, in the first half. Henley said he knew they would break through eventually, but they had to stay aggressive.
Henley said the team's front five, the three forwards and two attacking midfielders, did well keeping the ball on the offensive side of the field. Arthur, freshman Raquel Lozano, junior Lexi Henley, senior Anna Lowry and junior Maddie Dyro were able to anticipate the kicks from the Moberly goalie and set up more scoring chances, which made it hard for Moberly's defense to hold.
The Lady Hornets would not be able cash in until the second half when Arthur scored her goal off freshman Haley Langdon's assist. Henley said Langdon had to fight to keep the ball in scoring range long enough for Arthur to sneak it past the goalie.
"(Arthur) had a lot of shots up until that time and then got that one in," Henley said. "It was really good for both of them, really good for the team."
Fulton finished the game with 27 shots, 15 of them coming on goal.
The win was a much-needed victory, Henley said, as the team ended a three-game losing streak. However, Henley said he thought they could have had more offensive production based off all the opportunities they were getting.
"It wasn't that we didn't get the shots," Henley said. "We just didn't put them in the spots needed to get them in the net. It's one of those where you won the game. You're very happy you won the game. It's also one of those it's somewhat frustrating because you feel like it should've been more."
Moberly dropped to 3-15 overall and 3-7 in conference play.
Fulton (8-10, 3-4 NCMC) will play its next game at 10 a.m. Saturday at Kirksville.