Hounds' bid for upset ends in tie

FORT MADISON - It took 60 seconds for Fort Madison’s boys soccer team to build a two-goal lead on Southeast Conference leader Mount Pleasant.
It took less than that for the Bloodhounds to lose that margin.
The 3-3 draw on Thursday at the Baxter Sports Complex was a journey from elation to frustration for the Bloodhounds.
“Emotions in a sporting event always vary from good to bad,” Fort Madison coach Kevin Wellman said. “If we weren’t emotional about the way it ended, I would be concerned. Some unlucky things happened, and Mount Pleasant capitalized, and sometimes that’s how things happen.”
It was a much different match then when Fort Madison (8-4-3 overall, 6-2-1 Southeast Conference) lost to the Panthers (10-1-2, 8-0-1) 6-0 on April 20.
“When we played them up at their place, we didn’t play well,” Wellman said. “So we played a lot better tonight, which is a good sign.”
The Bloodhounds seemed in good shape after taking a 3-1 lead.

Connor Horn scored his second goal of the night with 10:30 left, a shot that hit the crossbar and came down toward Mount Pleasant goalkeeper Xachary LeBlanc, who scrambled to get the ball as it got away from him. At first it appeared he made the save in time, but after an officials’ conference it was ruled the ball crossed the goal line, and Fort Madison had the lead.
Exactly one minute later, Jonah Santiago scored, and the Bloodhounds seemed in command.
The Panthers, though, weren’t done. Dylan White, Mount Pleasant’s leading scorer this season, was fouled inside the box and was given a penalty kick with 4:11 to go. White was able to sneak a shot past Fort Madison’s goalkeeper Keelynd Ross, who had made several key saves earlier, and the Bloodhounds’ lead was 3-2.
Mount Pleasant was able to mount another immediate attack, getting a shot on goal that Ross was able to knock down. But White was in the right place at the right moment, getting a shot off the rebound that was out of Ross’ reach.
“We had done a really good job of marking White all night,” Wellman said. “He was able to get that PK, and then he was in the right spot for a rebound after Keelynd made a really good play. “That’s the way the cookie crumbles. Sometimes we do everything right, and it still doesn't work. That’s another reason why I love doing this job, making sure that it's important for them to learn that.”
Horn scored at the 29:10 mark of the first half to give the Bloodhounds a 1-0 lead. It stayed that way until late in the first half, when Mount Pleasant’s Josh Aguma scored off White’s corner kick with 13:20 to play.
“I'd probably be a little bit concerned if all the players were just like, ‘OK, let’s go home for supper,’ but I know they were frustrated,” Wellman said. “I take my job seriously, trying to teach them to learn how to deal with those kinds of things. So it was a good learning opportunity for us. I think everybody out here, all of my boys, got better in one way or another. They got better tonight. Every single time I'm with this group, I'm happy with them. We just have to keep improving.”