Tigers turn tables on Riverton to take 2nd win

Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Fort Scott's Jonah Jones (white jersey) and Riverton's Levi Zustiak chase after the ball during the first half of play Tuesday night at Ellis Park. Jones scored his fifth goal of the season at the 22-minute mark, tying the score at the time. (Scott Nuzum/Tribune)

Monday, Fort Scott High School's soccer team scored first. But Independence dominated the rest of the game and won easily, 4-1.

Tuesday at Ellis Park, the Tigers (2-4) saw visiting Riverton score first. But then Fort Scott went on to dominate the rest of the game and come away with a 3-1 victory.

"You just have to find what works," Fort Scott head coach Andrew Cline said. "For these guys, it's a different style than what I'm used to. I as a coach had to adjust to that.

"We played a team that worked hard, too. But I expect bigger and better things out of us. We've been improving and we need to keep improving."

Lawson Endicott scored the game's first goal to put Riverton (0-5) ahead after 20 minutes. But just two minutes later, Jonah Jones shot went off the Riverton goalie's hands and into the net to tie the score.

It was Jones' fifth goal of the season. To that point. he had scored every Fort Scott goal. But that streak ended when Kody Russell took a pass from Marcus Brennon in the 33rd minute to give the Tigers the lead.

The only goal of the second half was another Brennon to Russell connection in the 65th minute.

After getting off just 7 shots Monday against Independence, Fort Scott launched 32 shots at the Rams' goalkeeper on Tuesday.

On the other end, one day after allowing Indy to take 22 shots, Fort Scott held Riverton to just five shots. Only two were on goal -- Riverton's goal and one shot saved by backup goalie Philip Moran. This was his third game in the varsity goal -- and his second start -- since starter Clayton Hixon was injured against Pittsburg early in a match on Sept. 12.

"He's been getting a lot better," Cline said. "He struggled at times. He's not very loud at times. But he's been improving, steadily improving, and that's good for us."

Cline expects Hixon to be back for Monday's game at Spring Hill. Kickoff for that game is at 4:30 p.m. Cline is a Spring Hill High School graduate.

There was not a junior varsity game as Riverton doesn't have enough players. Noe Diaz scored the only Tiger goal in an 8-1 loss to Independence Monday.


Team statsRivertonFort Scott
Total Shots532
Shots on goal217
Saves141
Fouls76
Cautions10
Corner kicks21
Offsides26

Goalkeepers

R -- Ethan Scibor (14 saves). FS -- Phillip Moran (1 saves.

Scoring

R -- Lawson Endicott (unassisted), 20th min.

FS -- Jonah Jones (5, unassisted), 22nd min.

FS -- Kody Russell (1, Marcus Brennon), 33rd min.

FS -- Russell (2, Brennan), 65th min.