SJO soccer ties Comets, plays Danville close

Four matches in, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School soccer team is still searching for its first victory.

But the Spartans did have some close matches during the first week of the season, even if SJO hasn’t dented the win column yet heading into Monday’s 5 p.m. home match against Schlarman.

SJO (0-3-1) played host Oakwood/Salt Fork to a 0-0 tie in its season opener on Aug. 26. Mason Behrens made seven saves to star in net for the Spartans.
A day later, SJO traveled to Hoopeston and suffered a 3-0 loss to Hoopeston Area on Aug. 27. The Spartans trailed 1-0 at halftime before the Cornjerkers added two more goals in the second half. Behrens made nine saves in the loss.

The Spartans played their first home match at their new venue at Woodard Park in St. Joseph last Thursday, but suffered a 7-1 loss to Uni High.

SJO fell behind 3-0 at halftime and trailed 7-0 before Zac Seeley scored the first goal of the season for the Spartans.

SJO stayed busy with another home match this past Saturday, but sustained a close 3-2 loss to Danville. The Spartans led 1-0 at halftime, but three goals in the second half by Danville was too much to overcome. Seeley led SJO with a goal and an assist, while Luke Cohen chipped in with the other goal for the Spartans.

After Monday’s match against Schlarman, SJO is slated to play at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday at Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin in the Spartans’ other match of the week.