Semoball

Jackson shuts out Cape Central at ND Soccerfest

Jackson senior Jacob Simmons takes a shot against Cape Central on Thursday at Notre Dame Regional High School.
J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semoball.com

While it may be difficult to replace an All-State player, Jackson soccer coach Zack Walton believes senior goalkeeper Nolan Dry is doing his due diligence.

Dry — who is replacing Class 4 second-team All-Stater Luke Mirly in the net — made an incredible diving save on a Cape Central penalty kick, and the senior goalkeeper recorded his first shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory Thursday in the Notre Dame Soccerfest at Notre Dame High School.

“It’s going to be hard to replace Luke, but Nolan sat behind him all last year,” Walton said. “He worked really hard in practice for us and has trained with us for three years now, going on four. He’s definitely a very vital part of our system and a good player, and we’re going to rely on him a lot.

Jackson's Jacob Simmons, left, and Brayden Stowe celebrate Simmons' first-half goal against Cape Central on Thursday at Notre Dame High School.
J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semoball.com

“He’s been fortunate to learn a little bit behind Luke, but now it’s his time to shine and he showed that tonight.”

Walton said the Indians’ goal for Thursday night’s game was to improve on defense following a 7-5 victory over Saxony Lutheran in their opener on Friday.

“One of the things we wanted to focus on tonight was to just keep that shutout,” Walton said. “One of our big goals today was to play a little bit better defensively than we did in our last game and I thought we did a good job.”

The defending Class 4 state champion Indians took a bit to get on the board, but senior Jacob Simmons was able to put one in the back of the net with 13:02 remaining in the first half to give Jackson a 1-0 lead.

The two teams battled back and forth for nearly another full half before sophomore Jake Miller was able to head one past Cape Central junior goalkeeper Tad Couch with 14:21 remaining in the game.

“We had some good opportunities in the game to score and we missed some good opportunities,” Walton said. “The good part of that is we had really good chances and we did some really good things offensively. We just need to finish that in the back of the net a little bit.

“Overall, I thought we played a little bit better than we did last time and we’re just trying to get better and take it one game at a time.”

Despite taking the loss, Cape Central coach Jared Dobbs was proud of how his team performed in its opening game.

“We’re feeling good and we’re feeling confident,” Dobbs said. “I think in the first half there were some first-game jitters, but I think in the second half we really got settled in and started to connect on passes a little bit better.”

Dobbs’ squad was playing without four of its starting players as sophomore Preston McCuan and juniors Tim Kirby, Joel Ceja and Jose Garcia all missed Thursday’s game due to being quarantined for COVID-19.

“We want to keep kids safe and healthy, first and foremost,” Dobbs said. “We talked about it earlier this week and we knew some of the younger guys were going to have to step up and play a lot of minutes. Tonight, they did just that.”

Defensively, the Tigers played well but struggled with cramps late in the game.

“With the cramping issue, you know, we already reached into some younger players,” Dobbs said. “When those upperclassmen started to cramp up we had to utilize more of those younger guys.”

During the game, things got a bit chippy between the two teams and three yellow cards were handed out, one to Jackson and two to Cape Central within the final 10 minutes. Although the players were somewhat heated on the pitch, Dobbs emphasized that most of the players from both teams are friends off the field.

“It’s a varsity contest, and all these guys are buddies off the field which is good to see,” Dobbs said. “On the field, obviously, both teams are trying to win. Both teams are highly competitive. After the game, all these guys will probably be texting one another and be friends. It’s this camaraderie that we like to see and we try to instill in the program.

“During the game, it’s all business, but after the game, it’s back to normal.”

Jackson (2-0) will face Carbondale at 5 p.m. today before facing Notre Dame at noon on Saturday. Both games will be played at Notre Dame High School.

Cape Central (0-1) plays a doubleheader on Saturday, taking on Poplar Bluff at 9 a.m. and Fredericktown at 11:15 a.m. at Cape Central High School.

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