North's Dugger scores twice in tie

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Madisonville-North Hopkins’ Rush Dugger scored two goals in Tuesday night’s 3-3 tie with Marshall County at Donley Field, but it was the Maroon defense that flexed its muscle in the second half to allow the comeback.

Down 3-1 at halftime, keeper JD Lester led the North defense, which did not allow a goal in the final 40 minutes as Dugger and Miles Durham added scores to tie the game.

“First half, our defense had some breakdowns that I’m not sure what happened,” North coach John Tichenor said. “The defense did rebound nicely (in the second half) and understood their man-marking responsibilities and really came back and composed theirselves well.”

As the defense stifled the Marshall attack, Durham scored just under 10 minutes into the second half to bring the Maroons within one goal as Dugger assisted on the shot.

Fifteen minutes later, Dugger converted on his second goal to tie the game at three all. Dugger accepted a pass, juked past a Marshall defender and found the back of the net.

The goal was the last for either team.

Although Lester gave up three goals in the first half, he came forward many times to collect saves, and he aggressively protected the box.

Despite his solid second-half play, Lester gave credit to his fellow defenders.

“(Marshall was) doing a real good job of switching their forwards out, so our marking backs did a pretty good job of that, staying with them tight, not letting them turn to the goal for a shot,” he said.

Although North had more shots on goal, Marshall County made theirs count in the first half.

The Maroons took 14 shots to the Marshall’s seven shots during the first 40 minutes of action.

“I feel like this is a game that we let get away,” Tichenor said. “We had numerous opportunities that we couldn’t put on frame, we couldn’t finish. Personally, I think (Marshall) should feel good coming in here in a 3-3 tie. I think we let them off the hook.”

Marshall took just over three minutes to connect on the team’s first goal when Tyler McKenty scored on an assist from Matthew Pace for a 1-0 lead.

Four minutes later, Matt McHush put one past Lester and Marshall increased its advantage to 2-0.

Durham and Dugger had several shots during the first half, but did not hook up on a goal until Marshall committed a penalty on Durham. As Durham dribbled the ball toward the goal near the 14 minute mark of the first half, a Marshall player fouled him from behind setting up a penalty kick for Dugger.

As his teammates watched, Dugger approached the ball, moved quickly and kicked it in to the left side of the goal, cutting the deficit in half at 2-1.

While some players may try to look the goalie to the opposite corner, Dugger said he was completely focused on his mark.

“I didn’t really look at the goalie,” he said. “I never make eye contact with him. I just stare at the ball the whole time.”

North looked in position to make a move and tie the game, but Marshall regained their two-point lead on their own penalty kick with 11:31 left in the half. Pace spotted the ball in the right corner and North trailed 3-1. The score remained the same until halftime.

The Maroons will be back in action 7 p.m. Thursday when North visits Union County.