It’s pretty hard to win a soccer game when your team’s offense is not clicking.
But it can be done, particularly when your goaltender and defenders are at the top of their games.
The Reeths-Puffer boys soccer team failed to get a shot on goal in the first half against Caledonia on Monday night, and only managed three in the entire game.
But two of those shots went in, the Rockets kept the visiting Fighting Scots from answering, and managed to escape with an exciting 2-0 victory in R-P’s first game in the newly-configured O-K Green conference.
Gavin Wright
Reeths-Puffer is now 3-0-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
Caledonia dominated the first half, outshooting the Rockets 6-0, but failed to cash in on that advantage.
The Rockets made their move in the second half. They finally got on the scoreboard about 10 minutes into the half when Owen Ritsema collected his second goal of the season, with an assist from Zac Sampson
Sampson scored the second goal with about six minutes remaining, with an assist from Saif Abunayla
Owen Ritsema
“They dominated the ball in the first half,” R-P head coach Kody Harrell said about Caledonia. “They played with some extra bodies in the midfield and it took us some time to adjust. We just attacked the outside much more in the second half.
“We just told ourselves, this is the new conference, this is our new reality. We just have to do the work and put in the extra effort.”
R-P goalie Gavin Wright stood tall the entire game, stopping six shots in the first half, another two in the second, and doing a whole lot more that didn’t end up on the scoresheet.
“Gavin Wright was 100 percent the MVP tonight,” Harrell said. “He did so much more than make eight saves. He intercepted crosses, made catches off from corner kicks, made big stops coming out of the box. He was really aggressive tonight. He was a very, very busy guy.”
Zac Sampson
Harrell also credited the R-P defense for helping to preserve the shutout.
“There were a lot of blocked shots by the defenders, too,” he said.
The Rockets will now head to Mona Shores on Wednesday to renew the local rivalry with the Sailors in the second conference matchup of the season.
“That’s a big one,” Harrell said. “Both teams have a lot of new faces. It will be kind of a fun, fresh rivalry showdown.”