Panther boys spring to the top

MT. PLEASANT — First place in the Southeast Conference hung in the balance on Thursday evening at East Lake Park, as undefeated Fort Madison visited undefeated Mt. Pleasant in a battle of SEC leaders.

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What promised to be a battle to the end turned into a Mt. Pleasant runaway. The Panthers scored five-straight goals to knock the Bloodhounds off 5-1.

The game was tight in the first half. Fort Madison opened up the scoring with a successful penalty kick to take an early 1-0 lead, but with less than seven minutes to go in the half, Samuel Schaapen sent a goal in with his left foot to knot things up at one goal apiece.

Once the second half began, it was all Panthers. Dylan White scored twice in the first six minutes, first scoring on a rocket that grazed the Bloodhound keeper’s hands with 37:23 on the clock, then launching a deep free kick in with 34:01 remaining to make it 3-1.

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Any hope of Fort Madison punching back was dashed when Jack Newman sent a follow in goal into the net with 18:51 showing on the clock.

The game stayed 4-1 until a late goal by Asa Rose put the final nail in the coffin with a fifth goal.

“It feels amazing” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Rocco Russo. “One of the biggest things we’ve talked to our guys about is responding to a negative event, and I think they showed that.”

The game was similar to Mt. Pleasant’s 2-1 win over Burlington just three days prior. In that game, the Grayhounds had scored first before the Panthers responded.

Mt. Pleasant followed Thursday’s win with a 1-1 performance in Muscatine on Saturday. The Panthers lost to Muscatine 2-1 but defeated Central DeWitt 3-0.

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Mt. Pleasant is now 8-3 overall, and 4-0 in the SEC. Fort Madison sits one game below the Panthers, at 3-1 in league play.