Jackson girls reach title game of Noon Optimist tourney

By SCOTT ROSCOVIUS ~ Special to the Missourian

The Jackson girls soccer team is off to a good start as it looks to improve on a 20-win 2013 season that ended with an overtime loss to Seckman in the Class 3 District 1 final.

A 4-0 whitewash of Marion (Ill.) on Friday in the Noon Optimist Club Tournament at Notre Dame Regional High School kept the Indians undefeated at 3-0 on the season.

The win advanced Jackson to the title game, where they will play Notre Dame at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Bulldogs reached the final with a 3-1 win against Perryville.

Four players scored for the Indians, and four players also posted assists, showcasing Jackson's versatility. The Indians totaled 11 shots on goal while, defensively, Indians goalkeeper was called upon to make six relatively simple saves.

"We just tried to come up and pressure them defensively and not allow them any chances," Jackson coach Justin McMullen said. "I thought our defense was good tonight, and overall as a team we played really well together."

Jackson's offensive strength was evident early and often. The Indians were able to get the ball to forward Cassidi Tomsu on the wing, and the speedy sophomore was able to shake free and set up several scoring chances for her teammates.

"Coach always says it's like a track race," Tomsu said. "And we have a good chance because our girls will never let off the ball, and we want to get those 50-50 balls. I know if I cross the ball in, the girls will be there to score."

That was never more evident than on Jackson's lone second-half goal, the one that put the finishing touches on the victory. Tomsu took a pass and dribbled up the left side, beating her defender before turning in toward the goal. Left with a tough angle, Tomsu crossed to senior forward Emily Euclide-Gartman, who was crashing hard down the right side. Euclide-Gartman caught the cross before it hit the ground, blasting a shot that the Marion netminder had no chance to stop.

"I was going to try to cut in as close as I could, and it was a poor angle," Tomsu said. "So I let if off, and I saw Emily coming, and I'm like, 'Yes! I feel it, I feel it!' She was coming hard. I'm happy for her."

Euclide-Gartman relished the opportunity to score her first goal of the season.

"I was just hoping to finish for her," Euclide-Gartman said. "Just be there for her. Help her out. [The ball] hung up there a little bit. It was nice. It looked pretty."

Jackson jumped to a 3-0 lead at halftime, scoring twice within five minutes midway through the first half. Not surprisingly, Tomsu had a hand in each.

Tomsu, controlling the ball on the left side, had her initial shot blocked. Corralling the rebound, Euclide-Gartman passed to Tomsu, whose shot was again blocked out front. Euclide-Gartman tried to punch the ball in, but her shot was deflected wide of the goal for a corner kick.

On the kick, senior forward Alexa Kelpe found the ball in a crowd in front of the net and managed to get a shot through in the 15th minute.

"I saw the ball coming off one of our players," Kelpe said. "It kind of deflected off a bunch of people, and I just tapped it in."

Five minutes later, Tomsu took a crossing pass on the left side and poked the ball with her right foot past the goalkeeper and into the far corner for a 2-0 lead.

With five minutes left in the first half, senior Hailey Mouser blasted a shot from 25 yards out on the left side that curled high into the upper corner of the net to make it 3-0.

"We created a lot of opportunities going out wide and trying to press them," McMullen said. "I really felt that Marion was a really skillful team and presented a lot of problems for us."

Marion senior forward Emily Dickman found herself hounded constantly by Jackson's defense and was limited in her scoring chances.

"We definitely scouted her out, and she's definitely a skillful player," McMullen said. "We knew we had to slow her down. It was a very difficult task, but we were able to do it for the most part."

Marion coach Jared Dobbs noted his squad was missing four starters, but he didn't use that as an excuse for his team's performance.

"I thought we kind of got pinned back in our defensive third, and they just kept going on us," he said as his squad fell to 1-2 on the season. "I don't think their speed affected us. I think it was more or less losing those 50-50 balls, and things like that just really crushed us."