Number 13 not unlucky for JMS boys

By rscaife
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Updated: August 26, 2014

MCALISTERVILLE – After a strong finish to the 2013 season, the Juniata Mennonite boys’ soccer team wasted little time picking up from where they left off last season, posting an impressive 13-0 victory Friday night against Bloomsburg Christian in front of the Lions’ home fans.

Leading the charge offensively was Adrian Martin. Martin finished the game as the contest’s high scorer, posting four goals in the victory.

Team Captain Tony Gehman opened the game with two first quarter goals. Both of Gehman’s early goals came within the first two minutes of the start of the contest.

It was a night where teammates Nehemiah Courtney and Sam Taylor would also post their own hat trick in the shut out.

Also posting multiple scores in the game was Bradigan Davis. Davis rounded out the scoring with two goals of his own.

“We played well. The other team was down in numbers so that helped. But we had a great chance to mix all our players in,” Lions coach Kurt Wagner said. “Our starting rotation was clicking from the beginning. We started the way we really wanted to start the season. We have 22 players this year and we don’t have many junior high games so its nice to have time for them to get on the field. It will help us with experience and it will help us with moral.”

Juniata Mennonite opened the game and went right to work, moving quickly down into the Knight’s back-third. On just their first shot of the game, the Lions found pay dirt when Tony Gehman sent one flying past the Knight’s goalie and into the net with 17:00 still left in the opening quarter.

After Bloomsburg took the ball shortly into Lions territory, Juniata Mennonite revved it up once more when Martin called his own number and blasted one through, upping the lead quickly to 2-0 just less than two minutes into the game.

Before the Knights knew what hit them, Gehman found a seam in the Bloomsburg defense and collected his final goal of the game still with 15:00 minutes left on the clock.

Davis rounded out the first quarter scoring hitting his second goal with over 13 minutes left,

With the huge early lead, Wagner went to his bench and the team did not miss a beat as it showed strong passing and quick cat-like prowess on defense, keeping the shut out going while picking up three more goals in the second quarter.

Davis had a strong hand in both second quarter goals.

The first, Davis poked an unassisted goal after the ball bounced off the Bloomsburg post in right into his lap. Davis did not disappoint as he blew another shot past the shell shocked Knights.

Davis found an open Sam Taylor to put the Lions is strong shape as the two teams headed into the intermission.

With the reserves shining, Wagner kept most of the younger players in and they kept the momentum the first string opened the game with.

In the third quarter, the Lions posted five unanswered goals, putting the game out of reach by the time the fourth quarter got underway, posting an 11-0 lead.

Juniata Mennonite out shot Bloomsburg 34-4 and held a slim advantage in corners by a 4-3 margin.

Posting third quarter goals were Taylor and Courtney, who both dominated the ball.

When the team’s headed into the final quarter, Martin found the goal twice, making the final score a 13-0 blanking.