SOCCER GAME SUMMARY

All stars were lined up to set the tone today by the hosting team from Caro, especially after a decisive victory against the Lakers 2 days ago.

The Tigers were facing the visitors from Harbor Beach, aka the Pirates. They're usually known as a very competitive team to play against.

First half started with the Tigers setting the tone with great ball passing and control. The hosts kept pressing upfront to challenge the pirates defense without any outcome. Then, without warning, Junior and center forward player Adam Fisch directed a ball towards their defensive headquarters. Their main defender missed to clear the threatening ball to find Sophomore and left forward player Sang La who without hesitation shot the ball with his left foot to beat their goalie for the first goal for his team. Now the Pirates were surprised by this lead by the Caro team and were struggling to regroup and take control of the game.

Unfortunately, the stars decided to get misaligned again when the Junior and goalie Klayton Clish wasn't able to secure the ball after a shot and dropped it past behind him in the net. That's another gift in two games to let the opponent to come back and tie the game after CARO leading the game 1-0.

The Pirates of Harbor Beach were relieved to stay in the game and switched gears to keep putting pressure on the Tigers defense. Fair enough, right defender and Sophomore Ryan Will was not able to contain the skilled and fast forward player who crossed the ball to find his teammate to make it 2-1 for the visitors. The Caro team just couldn't contain the stimulated opponents although the Tigers were playing a solid and passing game. Opportunities were missed by a couple of players and the game really was won at midfield where another Harbor Beach player was allowed to shoot without being challenged to stop the shot to surprise the Caro goalie above his head and at the corner. Now the Tigers had lots to catch up to stay in the game and the coach kept making changes to make something magic happen. As a matter of fact, the hosts began to take control of the game and in various occasions threatened their goalie. All of the sudden, Captain and Senior Aaron Pierce delivered an amazing long pass from his sweeper position to find his teammate and Sophomore Marik Phillips. The latter rushed behind their defense from his center midfield position to attempt to beat their goalie but the shot was saved but Phillips persistently kept pressing to score on a rebound by tricking their goalie for the second goal for his team. Now the Tigers are still in the game but time ran out as the referees decided to whistle for the half time break.

The coach's speech was first to recognize the mistakes the players made to allow the opponent to take over the game, then switched to positive outcome based on the good performance the Tigers gave overall despite the 3 mistakes: "the big mistake is not learning from the mistakes!". As a final stimulating speech, the coach believed in his players and this team has great potential in the next few days to come.

Second half started with both sides analyzing each other as the score board showed a thin gap in goal difference. Several attempts came close to tie the game but in vain. The visitors managed to score a fourth goal to basically decide the outcome of the game. They were a better team and the Tigers definitely gave a great effort in the second half and showed up as a more competitive team against Harbor Beach than in previous years.

The MVP award was presented to Sophomore and center forward Sang La for scoring the first goal for his team and mostly his great effort and hard work in stealing and winning the ball from his opponents. His high energy, endurance and persistence to chase the ball and mark his opponent made him a great candidate for this award.

Next game is against Marlette this coming Saturday September 19 at 11:00 am at home in Caro.