By Levi Payton
sports@joplinglobe.com
Very few times does a team dominate a game offensively and lose. However, that’s exactly what happened during Tuesday’s Ozark Conference prep soccer showdown when Joplin defeated the 10th ranked Glendale Falcons 2-1 in overtime at JHS.
As good as the Falcons looked on offense, the Eagles defense was even better. Goal keeper John McDermid and midfielder Blake Aggus anchored the Eagles’ defense with several game-saving stops.
McDermid recorded 19 saves for Joplin with four of those coming in the overtime period. The Falcons blasted 23 shots on goal, but couldn’t get the ball in the net.
Aggus was equally as impressive in front of McDermid as he spoiled the Falcons’ attack time and time again with several key clears throughout the contest.
“I give credit to McDermid in the goal,” Falcons coach Jeff Rogers said. “He came up huge for (Joplin).
“In games like that, goal keepers step up and he did.”
The Eagles took advantage in overtime. On a corner kick, with less than a minute remaining, midfielder Levi Parker found Aggus running alone down the sideline and scooted him a pass. Aggus then fed Max Duncan in front of the goal. Despite being surrounded by red jerseys, Duncan managed to get off a shot into the back of the net to win the game.
“That is a play we run sometimes, but we weren’t really trying to run it there,” Aggus said. “I just saw it was there and called for the ball.”
The Eagles struggled at times to keep up with Glendale’s speedy attack, but when they did manage to take shots, they made the best of them.
Duncan scored the first goal three minutes into the game on a penalty kick after the Falcons were slapped with a foul inside the keeper’s box. Glendale responded exactly 22 minutes later when Devon Newport tied the game on a penalty kick of his own.
Then the Eagles’ defense took over.
“I was just thinking about the next shot,” McDermid said. “I was just trying to stay on my toes so I would be ready for anything.”
The Eagles moved to 7-1 and pulled even with Glendale at 3-1 in the Ozark Conference.
“We executed the game plan to a ‘T’, and our players did an outstanding job tonight,” Eagles coach Ed Miller said. “I’m very, very proud of our team.”
The Eagles will travel to the Jefferson City Tournament on Friday and square off with the host Jays at 5:30 p.m.
“Hopefully this will help build our confidence for that tournament,” Miller said. “We are going to see lots of good competition there, so we need to play well.”
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Joplin knocks off 10th-ranked Glendale
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