Panthers struggling to score goals, stay healthy amid tough MVC schedule
BY AARON OTTIS
SPORTS EDITOR
TRIAD – A 7-0 road loss to Triad put the Jersey Community High School varsity soccer team’s losing streak at four games.

Those four games were all Mississippi Valley Conference losses, and the Panthers’ offense has slowed to a standstill. Jersey was shut out in the last three games, and has been outscored 13-0 in the last three matches.

Jersey started the week with a 2-1 loss to Mascoutah, and then a 2-0 loss to Highland was cut short by the weather, giving the Panthers no chance to comeback in the second half. Waterloo posted four unanswered goals in their win.

“Highland and Triad are just on another tier above the rest of the conference,” Head coach Marc Patton said. “Outside of the first ten minutes of the Highland game when they scored both goals, we hung with them during the last 30 minutes of that half.”

Waterloo was the opposite. The Panthers struggled from start to finish, and Patton said it was the first game that his team has been that down.

“It was the first game like that all season. We don’t have an excuse for it; we just weren’t ready to go,” Patton said. “We didn’t play. It was a disappointment because we have not played like that this year. We didn’t have that toughness or competitiveness we’ve shown before.”

Jersey has been forced, in recent games, to modify their defense to account for multiple injuries to starters. Pat Madson returned from a knee injury at the Carlinville Tournament, but he has not seen time at forward as of yet. Instead, he will serve as a defender until he returns to full mobility.

“We liked what we saw with Pat back there,” Patton explained. “I think it gave our guys some confidence, and he is going to stay back there for the time being.”

Garrett Meisner is still dealing with a foot injury, and Mark Rowling is not back to full strength. Kevin Fry is also out with an injury. For now, Patton has moved to a 1-and-4 defense, utilizing whatever healthy players are available to fill the holes. He hopes this will shore up the defense, and give seniors Jon Harmon and Danny Guerra better chances on offense because they won’t be forced to navigate the full field all match.

“If you look at it in terms of wins and losses, we have had it tough this week,” Patton said. “But if you account for the injuries and look at it in terms of developing as a young team, it gives us a good chance to see what our kids can do against some of the best teams in the area. It’s like that every game. We don’t get a break with our schedule. We’ve just got to go out there and play. We are getting all kinds of chances offensively. We are just struggling to finish. Things are coming along. Once the offense breaks through, it will take a lot of pressure off the defense.”

Jersey will face Civic Memorial Thursday and Wood River on Saturday. The Panthers are now 4-6 overall, 0-5 in MVC play.