Jackson soccer triumphs in SoccerFest opener

~ Two goals in the first half were enough to lift the Indians to a 2-1 win in SoccerFest

It didn't come easy, but the Jackson Indians found a way.

Jackson scored a pair of goals in the first half and staved off a second-half comeback to come away with a 2-1 victory over visiting Carbondale, Illinois, in their first boys soccer game of the season Thursday in the opening round of the Notre Dame SoccerFest.

The win advances the Indians (1-0) to today's winner's bracket, where they'll face Poplar Bluff at 5 p.m. at Notre Dame High School. Poplar Bluff defeated Perryville 1-0 in a shootout.

"Anytime you're playing in a tournament, that first game is really important in deciding which way you go -- whether you start off on the other side of the bracket or you have a chance to go straight to the championship," Jackson coach Zack Walton said. "You've always got to give yourself a chance right off the bat."

Jackson jumped ahead early as sophomore Hunter Crowden stole the ball from a Carbondale defender inside the box and found the back of the net less than four minutes into the game.

"That's something we stress in our warm-up and in our pre-game talk. In the first five minutes, we just try to go out and catch them in a mistake," Walton said. "The boys responded. They came out and did that, so I was proud of them for that part of it."

Another sophomore, Josh Scholl, added the Indians' second score in the 27th minute. The unassisted goal gave Jackson a comfortable 2-0 lead at halftime.

"We've got some really good sophomores out there playing with us right now. That helps out a ton," Walton said. "It's really not just the seniors and the juniors. It's hard to play against those sophomores as well. All-around, the boys have responded well and played well together. For seniors and sophomores that maybe haven't played together too much before, they've been jelling pretty well."

The Indians missed on several other opportunities in the first half. One shot barely missed the crossbar, while two others were blasted more than 10 feet above the goal.

"We didn't stay very composed," Walton said about the offensive miscues. "That's easier said than done. When you're down there and there's a defender coming at you full speed and you're trying to get a shot off, that's a little easier said than done."

Both teams struggled to fire shots on goal in the second half, but in the 57th minute, the Terriers (2-2) turned the pressure back on Jackson.

Senior Jordan Dreamer broke away from the Indians' defense and scored an unassisted goal, cutting Carbondale's deficit to 2-1.

"We told them at halftime that we had to get the first goal of the second half," Carbondale coach Jeff Hansen said. "If you get it to 2-1, you can take some of the wind out of their sails, and I thought we did that. Our possession was much better. We changed formations a little, something we haven't practiced on a lot. I thought our guys played fairly well for not having a lot of work at it right now. We'll see how that works going forward."

Carbondale goalkeeper Wes Hatfield made a diving save to keep the momentum with the Terriers. Hatfield finished the game with three saves.

"He's been playing a long time, and he's started for us for two years now," Hansen said about Hatfield. "Any time you get a big stop like that, it helps. We always talk about how a two-goal lead is the worst lead to have in soccer because the team that's up feels comfortable. As soon as you pop one in, all bets are off, and the momentum just completely changes hands."

Jackson goalkeeper Brayden Emmons finished with four saves for the Indians. Walton was encouraged by his team's performance but said the first-game jitters were evident.

"We didn't possess the ball real great," Walton said. "In the second half, I thought we did a little better of a job getting possession and finding each other. For as tired as we were, I was proud of them. We just want to get better every half."

Heading into today's matchup, Walton said the Indians' focus will be on correcting their own mistakes.

"The focus is us," Walton said. "Can we get the ball in our possession and knock it around? If we can do that and make the easy passes, then things will open up for us."

In other tournament action, Notre Dame advanced with a 1-0 victory over Sikeston in penalty kicks. Notre Dame held a 4-2 advantage in the shootout.

The Bulldogs will face Marion, Illinois, today in a 7:30 p.m. semifinal. Marion defeated Central 3-1 on Thursday.