SOCCER GAME SUMMARY

On a constant slight rainy night under the lights in the football field with confusing double white lines, Caro was confronting the hosts from Marlette. 

Knowing that Marlette is a good team based on the first face off between these two teams, the coach's instructions and strategy were to strike first and close the defensive zone to limit their combinations and shots. 

Again, the Tigers were missing two key players (one sick and the other with football practice).

Fair enough, it took only the first 10 minutes to have Captain, Senior and center forward Aaron Pierce to deliver a bullet shot towards their goalie who deflected the ball to find open Sophomore right winger Brady Rigg to accurately place the ball inside the net for the first goal.

The coach suddenly signaled to Captain Pierce to retreat as a sweeper as part of the strategy.

The players from the Marlette team were in shock as they didn't expect this initial outcome. The Tigers with confidence then were playing a solid soccer game while the hosts were disorganized in their passes and shots which missed the net by far in many occasions.

It took about 30 minutes to let again a player open from the outside box to witness a shot beating goalie and freshman Greysen Chapelo who could not reach out to the ball to save it. With a 1-1 tie, both teams were looking for opportunities to take the lead in this rough first half with hard tackles and challenges. Unfortunately, another player was left free outside the box again with no support for the center midfield player, who got injured.

The Marlette squad added a third goal after a defender committed defensively to let the forward pass him and deliver a shot who left the Tigers goalie with no chance to save it.

The Tigers kept fighting and finding any cracks in their defense to finally infiltrate it when freshman and center forward Owen Vandermark insisted on keeping and securing his ball during his sprint to beat 2 defenders to surprise their goalie with an accurate shot. Reducing the gap to one goal lifted the Caro team and kept the hosts scoreless for the remainder of the first half with a verdict of 2-3.

The coach was very pleased with the outcome considering the circumstances. He encouraged his players to keep marking them, make some passing combinations and prevent them from shooting the ball.

Now with only 2 forward players up front, it was difficult to make things happen as the coach directed to rather support the center midfield and get involved with the plays. During the second half, the Tigers were just playing a more defensive game with special mention of Captain Pierce and Junior Klayton Clish blocking almost all shots and clearing the Tigers zone from any threats. Clish differentiated himself by blocking the most shots and played a smart solid defensive game.

Injuries, lack of marking, and ball blocking did not spare the visitors to avoid another 2 goals scored by this very talented Marlette player. The final verdict was in favor of the host team of Marlette with a 5-2 score.

The young team from Caro showed some character and fighting spirit today and the coach was very pleased with the final outcome.

The MVP award was presented to Junior and Stopper Klayton Clish who blocked the majority of the shots and stopped various offensive attempts from the hosts. Clish played a solid defensive game to minimize the damage and keep his team with a close and competitive game.

Next game will be at home this coming Wednesday September 30 at 5:30 pm hosting the team from USA.