HART – After a brutal string of opponents to open league play, Hart boys soccer pulled out their first West Michigan Conference (WMC) victory, Monday, Sept. 16, defeating Oakridge, 3-1.
After going 1-3 in its initial run through the WMC, Hart was happy to have the likes of Ludington, Montague and Whitehall in the rearview. The Pirates were outscored 20-2 by those opponents alone, claiming a 1-0 win over Manistee to offset losses to the others.
“We played three of the most dominant teams in the conference,” Hart Head Coach Joe Gilbert said. “Whitehall has slipped the last couple, but they’ve had tough games too. I’d say we didn’t match up well against Whitehall with their speed. Ludington is a good possession team and Montague is 5-0 or 6-0. We had a tough first run in the conference. Picking up the win over Manistee was a confidence boost.”
The Pirates carried their narrow win over the Mariners into a home meeting with Oakridge.
Senior leader Tyler Larios-Mendez got the Pirates going early, turning a well placed ball from sophomore midfielder Logan Dean into a one-on-one with the Eagles’ keeper. Larios-Mendez loaded up for a power shot, but instead tapped the ball softly out of the keeper’s reach to pull Hart in front 1-0 with just four minutes having ticked off the clock.
Hart owned possession of the ball for a majority of the first half, finding multiple shots on goal. The Pirates weren’t able to increase their lead until 15 minutes after the initial score.
“(Possession) was huge in establishing our goals,” Gilbert said. “I thought it could have been better honestly. We know we don’t have a ton of speed, so we knew if we could dictate the tempo and control (Oakridge’s) moments, we would have good success. We need to be much cleaner, especially when we’re on the attack.”
Junior forward Chase Lorenz was the recipient of that goal, pushing the ball down the right side of the pitch with Oakridge defenders trailing behind. Lorenz, a star for Hart’s track team, used his speed to gain separation before lifting a ball toward the net on what appeared to be a pass aimed at the back post.
That “pass” ended up being accurate enough to bounce past the keeper and take a soft roll over the goal line, inches away from a ricochet off the back post. That goal put Hart on top 2-0 and had the Pirates celebrating into halftime.
“Chase will say he was shooting that, but it looked like more of a cross (pass),” Gilbert laughed. “He’ll take the goal.”
After a slower start to the second half, it was senior midfielder Emmanuel Ortega that got things going with 20 minutes remaining in play. A penalty outside of Oakridge’s box set junior Rivaldo Gonzalez up for a free kick a few feet inside the corner on the Eagle’s baseline.
Gonzalez – a set piece specialist – sent a perfect ball into a crowd of bodies in front of the net. The resulting scrum between black and white jerseys resulted in Ortega poking the ball out in front of the net and sending it past the Oakridge keeper for a 3-0 lead.
Oakridge was able to answer with 10 minutes remaining in the game, but it was too little too late for a comeback. Hart’s defense closed out the game, surviving eight shots from the Eagles in the second half. Junior Miguel Escamilla made six saves in the net for Hart.
The Pirates moved to 5-5 on the year, boosting their WMC standing to 2-3 which had them sitting in seventh out of 11 teams.
