Rams end up tied with Marion

October 01, 2008 10:51 am

— By PAUL T. WILCOXEN
paul.wilcoxen@register-news.com
MT. VERNON — When it was all said and done, Marion and Mt. Vernon played to a 1-1 tie Tuesday on a cool end of September night in a boys high school soccer match at Lincoln Park in Mt. Vernon.
The Rams were in control until a penalty kick from the Wildcats’ Nick Patterson with 4:28 remaining in regulation led to the overtime session.
“It was a tough game,” said Mt. Vernon coach Steve Harrison. “The kids played hard. We had a great opportunity to win.”
The tie marks the ninth straight time the Rams have not lost. After dropping the team’s first two matches of the season, Mt. Vernon had won eight straight to improve to 8-2 before the Tuesday tie with Marion.
“It’s just great to finally be able to compete with these guys,” said Harrison. “Now we’re tied for first place (in the South Seven Conference). We’re 8-2-1 now. Things are looking good. As you get better more pressure comes. Five years ago we’d have been in hog heaven over this tie.”
With the Rams up 1-0 and the clock winding down headed toward a Mt. Vernon victory, the Wildcats were the benefactors of a hands call in the box during a shot attempt with approximately 4:30 remaining in the game.
“It was probably a PK (penalty kick),” said Harrison.
“It was definitely off the hand of the defense. You just hate to see you give it up on a PK. They hadn’t been able to score the whole game and the only way they did score is on a PK.”
It was Patterson’s opportunity to tie the score, but he had to get it past Mt. Vernon goalie Josh Sears.
Although he made a valiant effort, the shot was made just out of reach of Sears, which allowed Patterson’s shot to tie the game.
“If a kid can shoot at all, getting stops on a PK is really tough,” Harrison noted. “That’s like a sure goal whenever they shot. Very rarely is a goalie going to get a stop. I never expected Josh to stop that shot. We were just hoping he would miss it or hit it right at Josh, but he placed it right where he couldn’t get it.”
The Rams got on the board first with a goal in the first half by David Lee at 35:01 with the assist credited to Tyler Appleby.
“You never want to win or tie on a penalty kick, but they scored on a good corner kick,” said Marion coach Tony Orso. “I thought, most of their offense, we shut down. They got the corner kick, but they didn’t get too many other good chances. Once they got the lead they pulled back and they weren’t too concerned with getting a second one and to be honest that may have hurt them a little bit.”
The Rams will travel to Carbondale on Thursday to take on the Terriers.
NOTE: When Marion and Mt. Vernon meet it is somewhat of a mini-family reunion between the two head coaches.
“Marion’s got some good players,” Harrison noted. “My first cousin (Tony Orso) coaches them. It’s always a family battle.”

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