FORT MADISON - Kevin Wellman wanted his Fort Madison boys soccer team to watch Fairfield’s celebration at the other end of the field.
The Trojans had just taken a 2-1 (4-2 PKs) win over the Bloodhounds on Thursday night and were enjoying every second after their first victory over Fort Madison in almost five years, a celebration that included Fairfield’s Ezra Kuster, who had one of the Trojans’ goals in penalty kicks, drawing a post-match red card for taunting the Fort Madison players.
It was only the second Southeast Conference loss in the last 36 matches for the Bloodhounds, who have won the last three conference titles and had outscored the Trojans 31-3 in a seven-game winning streak in the series.
“Yeah, we’re the target,” Wellman said.
Which is why Wellman wanted his team to see the joy an opponent was getting.
“It would make me motivated,” Wellman said. “I feel like it’s partly a sign of respect. You don’t get that happy when you beat a team that’s got a losing record. So it’s somewhat of a compliment that they thought it was a big feat to beat us. But they did, so they deserved to have that celebration. Can we find some motivation from it? I hope so.”
The Bloodhounds (6-3 overall, 5-1 conference) needed a goal from Henry Graham with 6:41 to play in the second half to force overtime, but could never get many scoring threats against the Trojans (4-3, 3-3).
“Fairfield played well, they played well enough,” Wellman said. “They played hard, they’ve got good key players in the center/midfield area. They also have some good, athletic defenders. We couldn’t get in behind them. Henry shot, like, 12 or 13 times, couldn’t find the back of the net except on the free kick. Our opportunities were never behind the defense.”
Fort Madison fell behind in the penalty-kick round. Fairfield got the first shot, a goal from Minh Truong. Then Fort Madison’s Leif Boeding had his shot go over the goal.
Kuster’s shot made it 2-0 before Graham scored. Jaxen Allen gave the Trojans a 3-1 lead, then Jacob Shottenkirk scored for the Bloodhounds.
Fort Madison goalkeeper Conner Gehling stopped the shot from Carter Moore, giving the Bloodhounds a chance to tie. But Fairfield goalkeeper Dalton Drish stopped the shot from Maddox Rung, then the Trojans completed the win on Carter Stark’s goal.
Neither team scored in the first half, then Fairfield took a 1-0 lead on Allen’s goal with 28:30 left in the second half. Graham then tied it later in the half.
Both teams had scoring opportunities in overtime but couldn’t convert.
“They were stingy, they were stingy enough to give them the opportunity to beat us in PKs,” Wellman said.
The Bloodhounds now begin a stretch that includes games with Pella and ADM in the Pella Tournament on Saturday, followed by three conference games next week.
“Five games in six days, so it’s not exactly the best time for this lesson, because there’s not a whole lot I can build on in practice, because rest is probably a little more important than anything else,” Wellman said.
He shared the frustration that his team was feeling.
“Wasn’t our night,” Wellman said. “It was Fairfield’s night.”
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