MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP - There was not much more the Reeths-Puffer soccer team could to do win the game.
The Rockets took the lead twice in the first half of their O-K Green conference showdown at home against Zeeland West on Thursday night.
They controlled the offensive tempo in the second half and peppered the Zeeland West goal with shots, only to have all of them stopped.
The Rockets had many more offensive chances, outshooting the Dux 11-4.
But it all came down to one fatal play in the Reeths-Puffer goal box with 10:32 left in the game. A Rocket player was called for tripping a ZW player, the Dux were awarded a penalty shot, and they capitalized and beat R-P 3-2 in a heartbreaker in front of a big crowd at Eric Marcil Field.
R-P's Liam Smith ball-handles around a group of Zeeland West players.
The loss, which came in the final O-K Green game of the regular season, left the Rockets with the third seed in the upcoming conference tournament. A victory would have given them first place in the regular season standings and the top seed in the tournament.
An O-K Green championship remains a possibility for Reeths-Puffer, but a lot would have to go right in the conference tournament for that to happen.
The Rockets are now 10-3-1 overall and 5-2-1 in conference play. They will now play three non-conference games over the next week, starting on Saturday at home against East Grand Rapids.
Despite the spate of bad luck in the game, R-P head coach Kody Harrell was not pleased with the way his team handled the pressure-filled contest.
R-P's Nate Clemens, right, is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal.
“We outshot them 11-4 and led in corner kicks 10-3,” Harrell said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve lost a game where the stats were that lobsided.
“We have 14 defending champions on the roster, and they should know how to win big games when it gets gritty. I thought Zeeland West worked harder than us and were smarter than us.”
The big game was fast, physical and action-packed from start to finish.
The Rockets scored first when junior Nick Clemens broke in on the Zeeland West goal with the ball, got past the goalkeeper and found the back of the net at the 33:28 mark. Liam Smith assisted on the goal.
Zeeland West tied the score 1-1 with a goal from Zach Anderson about five minutes later.
Harrell said he didn’t think that goal should have been allowed, because it came on a quick start after a penalty was called on a Reeths-Puffer player, but the ball was placed about 5-10 yards beyond where the penalty was called.
R-P's Cohen Beck (12) battles for the ball.
“I’m proud that our kids didn’t complain about it, but it was a really big miss by the official,” Harrell said.
Clemens struck again for R-P at the 16:59 mark when he popped in the rebound of his own close-range shot, giving the Rockets a 2-1 lead. Ben Ritsema had an assist on the goal.
The Dux answered again, however, with a goal from Pace Bittrick with 6:45 left in the first half, and the teams went to halftime tied 2-2.
The Rockets outshot Zeeland West 6-3 in the first half, then really turned on the offense in the second.
They kept the ball in the Dux’ zone for most of the final 40 minutes and outshot the visitors 5-1.
R-P's Aiden McCollum (18) fights his way past a Zeeland West player.
Zeeland West goalie Lucas Smith was up to the challenge, however, making one big stop after another to keep the Rockets from pulling ahead.
“Their goalie had a good game, but I think on a few of our shots I would have liked to have seen one more pass,” Harrell said.
The final goal, on the Zeeland West penalty shot, was scored by Trigve Elkins with 10:32 left in the game, and R-P was unable to answer down the stretch.
“(The referee) said our guy tripped him, caught him a little bit on the ankle, so he gave him a PK,” Harrell said. "I thought it was a questionable call.”
