EAST GRAND RAPIDS – The Reeths-Puffer boys soccer team certainly does not plan to make the first night of the season its best night.
But if the way the Rockets played is any indication of what's to come, the season could be a good one.
The Rockets opened the season on Friday night with an impressive 2-1 victory on the road against East Grand Rapids in non-conference action.
“You don’t want to peak on Aug. 16,” said R-P head coach Kody Harrell. “But holy crap we really worked hard for one another. That was some of the best defensive effort I’ve seen in a long time. That had a championship district type feel tonight. They had a great showing from their fans.”
R-P's Carson McCollum (2) battles an opponent for a loose ball. Photo/Steve Gunn
R-P’s performance started out strong in the first half, despite the score being tied 0-0 at halftime.
Reeths-Puffer’s best chance came with about 40 seconds remaining in the half when senior Nick Clemens ripped a shot from short range that was saved.
The Rockets outshot the Pioneers 4-1 in the first 40 minutes.
Clemens got his revenge just 34 seconds into the second half when junior Owen Ritsema drove the right side and found Clemens in the middle of the box.
R-P's Trent Plummer gets tied up with an opponent. Photo/Steve Gunn
Clemens fired a shot that found the back of the net, giving Reeths-Puffer a 1-0 lead.
“It was all him really,” said Clemens about netting the goal after Ritsema’s hard work. “I was just there for the finish, and I had a similar chance in the first half I didn’t put away. But if you give me two chances, I’m going to put one away.”
The lead extended to 2-0 just four minutes later when R-P sophomore London Carpenter broke loose near midfield and beat the defense including the EGR keeper for his first goal of the season.
“We just talked about how we can play with these guys,” Coach Harrell about the halftime adjustments that opened up the offense. “We can go skill for skill. They had the energy of the home crowd, but once we settled in and kept them scoreless in the first 40, we knew we could play with them and get on the ball more. I knew we had the players to make the right approach.”
R-P goalkeeper Gavin Wright makes a stop. Photo/Steve Gunn
Things calmed down until East Grand Rapids was granted a penalty kick with 6:31 remaining.
Paul Frillmann netted the penalty kick to cut the Rocket lead to 2-1.
Over the final six minutes, the intensity and physicality seemed to pick up as each team put one final shot on goal.
“It got chippy and physical,” Harrell said about the adversity his team faced to end the game. “But that’s what you expect from varsity soccer. It kind of piggybacks on how resilient and gritty we were. I’d give our resiliency a 10-out-of-10 today, but the reason we had to be was that we made our jobs a little more difficult at times. But the boys played hard and gave max effort.”
R-P's Nick Clemens (7) takes control of the ball. Photo/Steve Gunn
R-P goalkeeper Gavin Wright stood tall, holding on for the 2-1 victory while totaling five saves on the night.
The Rockets outshot the Pioneers 9-6 in the game.
The Rockets are now off until Tuesday when they will host Big Rapids.
“They’re a gritty group,” Harrell said when asked what he learned about his team, which has now won three straight season openers. “They also love each other. They want to play hard for one another, and they genuinely like playing with one another.”