BURLINGTON – Fort Madison went into Monday’s boys' Southeast Conference soccer match a little banged up.
They ended the day a little more banged up with their conference title hopes teetering on the brink.
Burlington High School handed the Bloodhounds their third loss in three days 3-1 and dropped Fort Madison to 5-2 in conference play and 6-6 on the season.
The energy of the game belonged to the Hounds in the opening minutes as they took control from the opening kick and pushed the Grayhounds back to the box. Junior Henry Graham was in a one-on-one situation on the Bloodhounds' right side, but a push from behind sent Graham to the ground with a bum knee. He would limp off to the sideline, but wouldn’t return the rest of the match.
Fort Madison Head Coach Kevin Wellman said that wasn’t lost on the Hounds, who are already playing without three other starters and a reserve.
“We didn’t say anything about it and I didn’t necessarily see it, but they all felt it without Henry out there," Wellman said. "It’s tough. He’s moving better off the ball this year and giving midfielders more opportunity with the ball. So when he went out, they knew they had more work to do and they were already tired from the weekend."
The Hounds fell 2-1 to Pella on Saturday in Pella, and then dropped a 1-0 match to Class 3A No. 4 ADM.
“We’re banged up. We've got a game tomorrow, and we got a game Thursday. We’ve had some injuries that are ending seasons for players, and we have other injuries that are taking players out of the game, and we have smaller injuries that some guys are playing on,” Wellman said.
“We’ve also been dealing with sickness and a lot of players missing practices and games – key players. So right now, I don’t know what we do to get back.”
Senior Leif Boeding had two shots at the 20:53 mark and at 16:27 in the first half but couldn’t find the net. Then Burlington got behind Fort Madison’s defense and Eddy Valdez fired a shot high into the goal over keeper Conner Gehling’s head with 10:20 left in the first half.
They would score again in a scrum when Kamryn Reynolds shot one in past Gehling four minutes later for a 2-0 lead at the half.
They would score on the first possession of the second half when Will Steemer blasted in a carom off a Grayhound free kick from the right side of the offense for a 3-0 lead.
Fort Madison would get the final goal of the night off a penalty kick with Boeding sliding the ball into the left bottom to set the final score at 3-1.
Wellman said the Hounds need to remember to do the right things on and off the pitch to stay prepared for the rest of the season. He said he didn’t know Graham’s status for Tuesday’s game with Mt. Pleasant at Baxter Sport Complex. The Hounds are also playing without Nathen Bowen, who Wellman said could be back before the end of the season, and Jamarkus Kline who is lost for the season. Graham leads the Hounds with 14 goals on the season. Fort Madison was also without Noah Swigart on Monday night as well as Jake Haessig.
He said that means different players will be relied upon to fill in gaps and preparation will mean everything.
“Maybe we used too much in those two games (last weekend) and just didn’t have it tonight,” he said. “This is a group of good kids and we forgot about that a little bit tonight.”
The junior varsity won 4-3. Conner Horn had three goals for the Hounds.
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