JERSEYVILLE - Jersey’s boys’ soccer team has proven time after time this season to be one of the area’s best and the squad was on fire at home Friday and Saturday, capturing a round robin tourney.
Jersey used its fast-paced offense and long backfield tosses from tourney MVP Drake Kanallakan to upend Belleville Althoff Friday night 2-1, Greenville 5-0 and Freeburg 3-1 Saturday. Tonight, the Panthers travel for a key matchup against Alton at Gordon Moore Park. The wins pushed the Panthers to 15-3 overall for the season.
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Kanallakan impressed the other coaches with his ability to set up the Panthers on the offensive side with his tosses. A few of the coaches said Kanallakan was one of the best they had seen at tossing the ball that distance and that enabled him to be voted tourney MVP.
“Drake was a unanimous tournament MVP and he impressed the other coaches with how hard it was to defend his deep throws,” Jersey coach Scott Burney said. “We have been fortunate since I have been here to have a good long thrower each year. We emphasize it in training and we are working on a couple of seniors to replace Drake next year because he is a senior.”
Jersey’s Jake Ridenhour broke the school scoring record netting his 22nd goal. He missed the first three games of this year and still hit the number, Burney said.
“Jake just won’t stop if the ball is near the net,” he said. “He doesn’t do this selfishly, but he is beating players to the ball and wants it more than everyone else.”
This past Thursday, the Panthers held their annual Breast Cancer Awareness Night and it was again successful and moving, Burney said.
“We had people come out school wide and from the whole community and we honored survivors with some community outreach,” Burney added. “It was a really emotional night and at the end of he night we ended up winning the soccer match.”
Burney said he is impressed with his team’s 15-3 mark. Tuesday will be senior night at home against Highland and he hopes to avenge an earlier defeat.
The first priority is Alton tonight and the coach said it will be a very good gauge at where the team is at this point.
“We are trying to tune ourselves to making a post-season run,” he said.
