ONE FINAL "JUMP": Somerset takes down Warriors in home finale

Photo by Jacob Pratt: Somerset senior Tyson Absher (center) dives for a shot attempt past Southwestern sophomore goalkeeper Fernando Morales (left) during the Jumpers' 6-0 victory over the Warriors on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024.

SOMERSET - Ahead of the bad weather coming in on Friday, there was a steady rain at Clara Morrow Field on Thursday evening when the Southwestern Warriors came to take on the Somerset Briar Jumpers. This was the home finale for the Jumpers, and with a stellar group of seniors, could they outlast the Warriors? With Southwestern coming off their first victory of the season and playing some inspired soccer, could the Warriors get their first victory over their rivals since 2016?

Alexa, play "Jump Around" by House of Pain, because this one was all Somerset from beginning to end, as the Briar Jumpers sent their seniors out in style with a 6-0 victory over their rivals.

In the fourth minute of the game, Logan Presgraves had a free kick that sailed way over the goal. Andrew Tomlinson had the first major shot attempt of the game for either team in the seventh minute, although it was deflected away by Fernando Morales in goal. A sliding shot attempt by Tyson Absher in the 12th minute was also deflected away, but the Jumpers were starting to zero in on their target. Somerset finally got on the board a minute later, as Aidan Tucker got an assist from Noah West and shot the ball from the top of the box into the back of the net, giving the Jumpers the first lead of the night at 1-0.

Kean Taylor had a nice header in the 14th minute that went wide of its mark. A perfectly placed pass by Tomlinson found a sliding Absher in the 16th minute, with Absher's shot roaring into the right side of the net to put the Jumpers up 2-0. Absher and Tomlinson almost scored in the 21st minute but their chances were stopped by deflections as well. In the 26th minute, Absher had another great pass from Tomlinson, only this time Absher's shot didn't find its target and was out of play. Both of the seniors had close attempts in the final 10 minutes, but it was still 2-0 in favor of the home team as the teams went to the half. The Warriors were without a shot attempt during the first 40 minutes, and head coach Tyler Gillum noted that despite a few mistakes, his defense played extremely well in the first half.

"The defense is always the focal point, I've always said that offense puts butts in seats but defense wins championships. Tonight, the defense looked really good, despite some nitpicks on my end. The players have really stepped up recently," he explained.

Photo by Jacob Pratt: Southwestern senior Cole Morrow (10) kicks the ball in midair past the defense of Somerset junior Bryson Church (left) during the Warriors' loss to the Jumpers on Thursday at Clara Morrow Field.

A shot from Taylor to begin play in the second half in the 42nd minute was scooped up by Morales, as the sophomore goalkeeper was performing amicably despite facing a strong offense. A header from West was saved by Morales two minutes later, but again it seemed like the Jumpers were focusing in on the net early on. That proved to be true in the 49th minute, as Tomlinson received a volley of a pass and put a shot into the right side of the net for a 3-0 Somerset lead.

The Warriors finally got their first close look at the goal in the 50th minute, as Paxton Futtrell made a run at the goal but was stopped by goalkeeper Landen Lonesky. Absher scored his second goal of the game in the 52nd minute, as he followed up a shot from fellow senior Oskar Lintzen to put the Jumpers up 4-0 with the rout now officially in progress. Absher didn't take long at all to earn his hat trick either, as just a minute later he rebounded his own shot attempt and put the ball into the right side of the net, giving Somerset a 5-0 edge and putting this one nearly out of reach just about 10 minutes into the second half.

A shot from Southwestern in the 55th minute was wide, but the Warriors were at least making plays down the field during the second half of play. Tomlinson had his second score of the night in the 63rd minute, as his shot dribbled down the grass into the back of the right side of the goal to put his team up 6-0 with time ticking away. Carson Beattie, Noah Prather, Lintzen and Jackson Burgess all had shot attempts over the final 17 minutes, but none could find the back of the net. That mattered little in the grand scheme of things however, as soon the senior Briar Jumpers were diving onto the ground in celebration of winning their final home game 6-0 over their rivals from Southwestern. So coach Gillum, how did it feel to shut out a rival and to seemingly be playing some of your best ball late in the season?

Photo by Jacob Pratt: Somerset seniors Landen Lonesky (right) and Andrew Tomlinson (left) join other teammates in diving on the ground in celebration after their win in the contest between the Briar Jumpers and the Southwestern Warriors on Thursday evening.

"Field conditions and weather played a part of things today, but we really needed this win tonight heading into games against Dunbar and GRC in the coming days to conclude the regular season. There are some things we can definitely work on, I wouldn't exactly say we are peaking just quite yet, but we are making improvements, and ultimately our goal is to judge how we are doing over the next two games against tough competition to see what we need to fix heading into the postseason," he elucidated.

Somerset improves to 11-2 and are now riding a seven-game winning streak. The Jumpers will next travel to Paul Laurence Dunbar on Saturday for a tough game against one of the 11th Region's best.

Southwestern falls to 1-12 and will look for win number two on Saturday as they host the Paris Greyhounds.

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