MUSKEGON — Howling winds Friday night made Reeths-Puffer's game with West Ottawa a game that would be decided by which team made more of its wind advantage. Thanks to a long, arcing shot that snuck past R-P keeper Sara Carlson and into the net, that team was the visiting Panthers in a tough 2-1 Rocket loss.
"It was going to be a tale of two halves," Rockets' coach Kody Harrell said. "We controlled the game in the
first half and they controlled the game in the second half. They were
just able to take more of their chances with the wind at their back...It's
like 11 v. 12 out there when you're playing into a strong wind like
this. Both teams had to do it for 40 minutes, so no
excuses. They were able to be a little more opportunistic when
they had the wind at their back."
West Ottawa had the wind at its back in the second half, and just as did the Rockets (0-2) in the first half, they quickly took advantage with a goal in the first five minutes. R-P fended off several West Ottawa attacks as the half progressed, but a long shot by Heather Cicholski from some 30 yards away caught Carlson off guard with 10:51 to go - the wind likely played tricks on her - and found its way between her and the post for the winning score.
It was a shame the day ended like that for Carlson, who had a strong day in defeat in the team's opener against No. 2 East Grand Rapids and displayed toughness Friday by taking a shot to the chin and staying in the game during the second half.
"She's
way too good of a keeper to get beat near post from that far of a shot," Harrell said. "We know that maybe the wind had
something to do with that and changed it."
Abby Hill opened the scoring for the Rockets just over four minutes after kickoff with an easy tap-in goal off a great setup from teammate Hanna Potts. R-P dominated possession in the first 15 minutes before falling off a bit later, which Harrell said was a similar script to how the team's season opener unfolded. He attributed it in part to the team still working itself into soccer shape after many of the Rockets played winter sports.
Reeths-Puffer's Mallorie Messer (9) goes down while battling West Ottawa's Monroe Nienhuis for possession during Friday's game at R-P. The visiting Panthers won, 2-1.
"When we
applied pressure, we did really well regardless if we were playing
with the wind or into the wind," Harrell said. "It's about us getting our soccer legs or soccer lungs,
getting our soccer fitness back. We start hot. We put together a good
first 15
minutes, and then it drops off, and we start sagging off too
much. We just gave them way too much space and time to attack."
R-P entered the season with fairly high hopes after returning almost everybody from last season's very young team. To start 0-2 is a minor disappointment, Harrell said, though that has more to do with the way it's happened - a lopsided loss and being unable to hold a lead - than the record itself.
"(It) makes
it a little disappointing because we know we're better than (losing to EGR) 6-0, even
though that's a great team, and we know we're good enough to hold on to
leads and play with the lead," Harrell said. "It's two very good
soccer teams, so to go 0-2 is not disappointing, but how we got to 0-2 makes it a little tougher. (But) we're growing. We're
developing. This was 10 times better than Wednesday night."
The Rockets saw some good things from their defensive unit, and Harrell credited Mallorie Messer, Chloe Brainard and Reese Tryska with toughness and leadership. He noted that while R-P is now a pretty experienced team, it's still a young one - only four seniors play big minutes. That creates some optimism that the team could improve quickly through the season.
"A lot of girls really are showing their
grit and character early on here, because we have a lot of returners, but there's still a lot
of youth within those returners," Harrell said. "It's
all about prepping for our best soccer in mid-May."
