Fulton is searching for momentum and good health heading into districts next week.
The Hornets begin play Nov. 2 in the Class 2 District 4 tournament in Winfield with their first-round game against Mexico - the third meeting between the North Central Missouri Conference foes - but have been weathering a recent rough stretch of games with an incomplete roster. The third loss in four games and third shutout in that many contests came Tuesday at home against Osage as the Hornets lost 3-0.
Fulton (13-7) has been unable to find offense in every game of a four-game homestand except for its Senior Night 5-1 victory against Moberly. Head coach Joel Henley said the team has struggled with injuries all season, including the last few weeks with juniors Dominick Tharp and Aidan Romero being lost to knee injuries and sophomore Jayden Ayers having to sit out Tuesday because of a red card given to him Monday in the 2-0 loss to Marshall (13-5).
"We were a little shorthanded, but I felt like our guys came out with fight and didn't give up," Henley said. "They played against a solid team and being shorthanded makes it a little tough, but I think we come away with the fact that we hung with them a long time."
Osage (13-6) went into Tuesday the winner of five consecutive games and 10 of its last 11 as the Indians jumped ahead with a goal in the first five minutes. Henley said the Indians were the latest high-quality team the Hornets faced Tuesday and showed why with their sound technical game and ability to make cross passes. He said Fulton didn't do a good job pressuring Osage when it was taking shots in its offensive half field.
This happened frequently as the Hornets struggled to move the ball from midfield as sophomore Christian Mahoro and senior Alban Dervishi tried to handle the ball only for it to be knocked away from them by an Indian. Osage was also positioned for headers when the ball was airborne as the Hornets weren't able to run as well they do.
"They're solid techically. It's always tough when you play teams like that," Henley said. "We struggled tonight offensively and being short a couple offensive guys didn't help us tonight."
In the second half, Fulton's defense allowed the second Osage goal in the fourth minute as Will Faulconer slid to push the ball past the diving senior goalkeeper Joey Anderson to double the Indian's lead. About 11 minutes later, Osage scored the third goal after the referee ruled the ball crossed the line enough before Anderson could corral the ball, to the disagreement of Anderson and the Fulton sideline.
The Hornets worked some balls past the midfield but weren't able to have clean shots except for one near the crossbar punched away by Osage goalkeeper Andrew Groos as time was close to expiring.
Having close to a full roster again by the start of districts would help Fulton tremendously, Henley said, but the team isn't sure whether everyone will be back by then. He said Fulton might have one back from injury in time for Tuesday, and Ayers will definitely return Thursday for the regular season finale at Canton (4-11-3).
Henley said it has been difficult to lose games to Hannibal (15-6-1), Marshall and Osage where not even one goal has been scored in the Hornets' favor but is also optimistic things will be ironed out. He said Fulton has shown that scoring just one gives the team momentum to follow with others soon after, which Henley hopes will translate to Thursday and Tuesday against Mexico (3-17) - who Fulton has outscored 11-1 in the first two meetings.
"We've played some really tough competition, but the thing that concerns me more than anything is we have lost a few games where we haven't scored goals," Henley said. "When we put the ball in the back of the net, we tend to get a lot of momentum and get a lot of movement forward."