The Caro Tigers were hosting the North Branch team on a chilly afternoon which suggested that Spring is taking its sweet time to show up. Senior Ellie Fisch being sick, the coaches had again to re-organize the midfield and forward zones to try to contain the hungry team from North Branch. Surprisingly, The players from Caro demonstrated a much high caliber of game than during the first game. Confidence in defense was present with the comeback of the official goalie Talena Pifer who already made some spectacular saves to keep her team very competitive. Center midfielder Olivia Walker took matters in her hands by dominating both the midfield and forward real estates. The solid and amazing defense, consisting of sweeper Lydia Chapelo and stopper Marisol Reyes assisted by defensive wingers and new comers Olivia Montgomery and Bryanna Funsch, made sure the Caro critical zone was well protected. Montgomery and Funsch were great surprises since they performed much better than anticipated by the coaches. The North Branch forward players attempted to challenge the Caro goalie at multiple times without success. The midfield wingers Faith MacDonald and Abby Spencer played a supportive game to feed strikers Katie Scharrer, Lexie Johnson, Alyssa Smith and Deziree Hughes in various breakaways with some attempted shots at the opposing goalie, without converting into any goal. After 35 minutes in the first half, the Caro goalie was out of position and failed to notice a weak shot to her left which she could have easily saved, therefore, allowing the visitors to score their only goal as a gift. The Tigers tried to come back and erase this unlucky goal but could not capitalize on several chances and breakaways. Second half started strongly for the hosting team as the Tigers dominated most of the second half despite the efforts to tie the game and contained the visitors to a scoreless sheet but ended up with a final unfortunate score of 0-1. The Tigers improved tremendously in all aspects from the first game and this amazing performance has definitely built great confidence in all players for the games to come.

The game MVP player award was presented to midfielder and freshmen Faith MacDonald who stood out from the other players by delivering an outstanding performance in all aspects, especially giving it all in winning the ball in several plays.

Other players who deserve a mention of outstanding performance is Goalie Talena Pifer with 19 saves, Sweeper Lydia Chapelo who played both in defense in center midfield, and Center Midfielder Olivia Walker who played both in center midfield and as a sweeper. Both played amazingly in those two positions.

Next game is at home again in Caro on Tuesday, April 9th at 5:30 pm hosting the team from Marlette High School.