After giving up a two-goal advantage but winning 3-2 in Hannibal on Tuesday, Kirksville wasn’t about to blow another lead at home in Thursday’s Pink-Out game against a solid Moberly side. The Tigers scored in the 16th minute when senior Beckett Lyons took advantage of an out-of-position goalkeeper, and the Spartans had very limited chances to equalize. Moberly did not record a shot on goal in the second half as the Tigers dominated time of possession.
Kirksville advances to 11-2, and according to head coach Shawn Meintz, research is needed on whether the program has ever had such a strong opening 13-game stretch, record-wise. Hannibal fell to 4-12-2 with its loss, and Moberly is now 10-6.
“We can limit what people are doing, we can possess the ball, that’s kind of our thing,” Meintz said. “We don’t score a ton of goals because we try to work the ball, we try to keep it more than just attack, attack, attack all the time. We’ll happily take that for the clean sheets and fewer chances for opponents.”
In the Hannibal game, Kirksville gave up the game-tying goal with 11 seconds remaining before shutting the door in overtime. Meintz said he thinks his group has bought into never feeling that gut-sinking emotion again, despite coming out with the victory. Both wins against Hannibal this year came in 3-2 fashion – and much like the opening 13 games – those involved will have to dust out the history books to figure out the last time the Tigers beat the Pirates twice, if ever.
The Tigers have now given up just three goals during a six-game winning streak, and are ranked 11th in Class 2. Among those rankings, Kirksville is the third-rated public school.
“We still didn’t finish our chances, but for that I want to give Moberly the credit they deserve,” Meintz said. “They did a great job defending it, making it hard on us with a fantastic goalkeeper back there. All credit to them for the fantastic effort. We’re glad they’re so close, we’re glad they’re so good. It’s a great night, a great cause – it feels like the postseason. We love these tough games for when we go west for Districts.”
Kirksville hosts Quincy on Saturday at 1 p.m. Again, hit the records – it is uncertain whether the Tigers have defeated Quincy in program history.
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