Madson's corner kick sends Jersey to next round of Alton Tournament
BY AARON OTTIS
SPORTS EDITOR
ALTON – It was a game of awkward circumstances for Jersey on Monday night.

Ethan Bailey used his head, in the most literal sense, to keep McCluer to a shut out, and Pat Madson’s happy mistake on a second half corner kick made the difference for the Jersey Community High School varsity soccer team at the Alton Invitational Boys Soccer Tournament.

Jersey won the match 1-0, and advanced to face Carbondale Wednesday night. Scores were not available at press time.

After Jersey had only a few good shots during the first half Monday, and a couple more to open the second half, senior Pat Madson took things into his own hands…err, foot.

The left-footed Madson set up to strike a corner kick about halfway through the second half. He just happened to kick the ball exceptionally well, or maybe not so well at all, as Madson explains it. Either way, the kick passed through the box untouched until the McCluer goal keeper’s fingertips gave the ball the final bend that sent it into the net.

“I didn’t mean to kick it that way,” Madson said with a chuckle. “I meant to get it to Danny (Guerra) or Jon (Harmon) on the far side of the box. But I kicked it short, and the goalie had already come out of the net. He couldn’t adapt to the shot, and he kind of sent it in. I meant to curve it, I just didn’t meant to kick it right into the goal.”

“It was a great goal, and we will take it,” Head coach Marc Patton said. “But really, we want those out by the PK line or deep post, whatever the case may be. He mis-hit the ball to a certain degree, because he didn’t put it as far as we wanted. We’ll take it. That is something that happens once in a great while. We don’t want to make a habit of putting it right on goal, because most keepers will come out and catch those balls. Their keeper just came out too early.”

Jersey then withstood McCluer’s aggressive offense in the final minutes to complete the win. Bailey, who made a key save on a free kick in the first half to keep the score tied at 0-0, took the potentially game-tying shot off his face during the final five minutes of the contest. It was the second of two corner kicks that Jersey broke up in 30 seconds.

“On the previous corner I came out to get the ball,” Bailey said. “They have lights on the side of the field right down by the corners. The light got in my eyes and I had trouble finding the ball. So on the second corner I came out to get it on the cross, and the light got in my eye and I came back into the goal. The next thing I knew, the ball was on my right. I luckily turned right in time to take the ball in my face. It hit my face and cleared out of the box, so we got lucky there.”

Patton said this was one of the most evenly matched games of the season.

“It was a good game because of that,” Patton said. “They had some good kids up front and a good goalie. They had a lot of kick and run in them, and we did too. It was really back and forth. It was a fun game, and we really needed one of those after a week or two of tough losses in the MVC.”

Jersey is hosting the IHSA Regional again this year. The IHSA Boy’s Class 2A Soccer Regional will take place on October 21 and Saturday, October 25. The two semi-final games on Tuesday will feature top seed Triad against 4th seed Cahokia at 4:30pm. The second semi final will be 2nd seed Civic Memorial against the host team 3rd seed Jersey.

The championship game will be on Saturday, October 25 at 3:00pm. All three games will be played at the Don Snyder’s Sports Complex.

Admission is $4.00 with the price set by the IHSA. Concessions will be available both days of the tournament. For more information contact the high school at 498-5521 x244 during regular school hours.

Mike Heitzig fights to keep control of the ball and his shirt during the Panthers' 1-0 win over McCluer. Aaron Ottis/thejcstar.com