Lady Dutch post three great wins in busy week; fall short in tournament play
The Lady Dutch Soccer Team celebrate after their victory over Grass Lake. Photo by Scott Somerville.
submitted by Scott Somerville
The Manchester Lady Dutch Varsity Soccer team completed a very busy sixth week of competition, playing five games in a six-day span from April 25-30.
The first game of the week, on Monday April 25, featured a rare home appearance for the Lady Dutch vs the Cardinals from Michigan Center High School. In this game the Manchester team jumped out to a 1-0 lead 9:45 into the match from a goal by sophomore Emma Woods, assisted by sophomore Meghan Somerville. Six minutes later, junior captain Grace Helmke took a corner kick from the left side that deflected of a Cardinal player and into the goal for a 2-0 Manchester lead. With 20 minutes left in the half, freshman Savannah Roe converted her first Manchester varsity soccer goal assisted by sophomore Fiona Howard. Then with 6:26 remaining in the first half, Helmke delivered another corner kick placed nicely in the box for junior captain Marlena Ballnik to convert a header into the goal which gave the Lady Dutch a comfortable 4-0 lead going into halftime.
In the second, the Lady Dutch continued to dominate with a fifth goal scored 3:36 into the half by junior Mary Sangster, assisted by senior captain Hayley Ray. Five minutes later, Howard scored assisted by Helmke. Helmke then scored two minutes later after intercepting a Cardinals pass and finishing for the seventh goal of the match. The eighth goal was scored in similar fashion when Somerville intercepted a Michigan Center pass and dribbled the ball through the Cardinals defense to end the game due to the mercy rule with 23:33 left on the clock.
Thanks to strong defense by juniors Sara Hock and Sangster, sophomore Lydia Bennett and freshman Lila Harvey, plus sophomore goal keeper Megan Edwards, the Cardinals were unable to convert a goal for a final 8-0 shutout win for Manchester.
On Wednesday, April 27 the Lady Dutch traveled to Quincy to play the Orioles of Quincy High School. For the first 27 minutes of the game, the Lady Dutch took multiple shots and had many opportunities to score, but aggressive play by the Orioles freshman keeper kept the Lady Dutch off the scoreboard. The opening goal was netted with 13:09 left in the first when Howard connected with Roe who shot from the left side to give Manchester the 1-0 lead. Three minutes later, Ballnik found Ray in the middle who took a shot deep that sailed by the Orioles keeper for a 2-0 lead.
With 8:53 remaining in the first, Sangster converted the third goal of the match, assisted by Howard. Entering halftime, the Lady Dutch enjoyed a 3-0 lead.
In the second half, the next two goals were scored by Howard, then Woods (assisted by Helmke) to put the Lady Dutch up 5-0. From there, the Manchester coaches played new players to the team for much- needed game experience. Freshman Ashley Bobo, and junior Melanie Fierro saw ample game time and kept the Orioles defense busy. As well, sophomores Francisca Pu Tzoy, Miranda Austin, and Gianna Turek all contributed strong play by the Lady Dutch. Two more goals were scored by Manchester before the end of the match. With 16:47 remaining, Ballnik scored unassisted, and eleven minutes later, Ray got her second of the match, assisted by Helmke. Once again, strong defense and goalkeeping by Harvey, Turek, Ballnik, Helmke, Somerville, Howard and keeper Edwards kept the Orioles off the board for a 7-0 win for the Lady Dutch.
On Friday, April 29, Manchester traveled to Grass Lake to face the Warriors on their interim playing field used during the construction of Grass Lake’s new soccer facility. Early in the match, the Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 lead 1:20 into the match, catching the Lady Dutch by surprise with aggressive opening play. From there the Lady Dutch defense, this time of Ballnik, Helmke, Bennett and Harvey, settled in and stifled the Warriors’ attack. Halfway through the first, Somerville, playing attacking mid-field send a ball to Hock, playing striker, who used her speed to get by the Warriors defense to find the equalizer and Hock’s first goal of the season. Entering halftime, the game was knotted up at one apiece.
In the second, Manchester took the lead at the 8:20 mark when Helmke delivered another nice corner kick that Ballnick headed in for her third header conversion this year. With 11:34 left in the match, Howard had a fast breakaway into the Warriors’ penalty area when she was abruptly taken down from behind, resulting in a foul against Grass Lake and a penalty kick for Manchester. The penalty shot was taken by Ballnik, who went right with her shot which was very skillfully blocked by the Warriors goalkeeper. However, the keeper was unable to contain ball, and the resulting rebound was easily converted for the goal by Ballnik, giving Manchester the 3-1 lead. With 4:44 left in the match, Grass Lake committed another foul, this time outside the penalty area near the right touch line setting up a
free kick. Taking the kick, Helmke delivered a near-perfect strike that found the goal near the back post giving Manchester the 4-1 lead and Helmke’s third free kick conversion of the season. At the final whistle, the Lady Dutch prevailed 4-1.
On Saturday April 30, the Lady Dutch traveled to Clinton to participate in the Clinton Cup tournament. The four teams participating were Manchester (Div. 4), Clinton (Div. 3), Clio HS (Div. 2) and Parma Western (Div. 2). Each game format was 60 minutes total and each team played in two matches. An initial qualification match, and then a finals or consolation match. The tournament director placed Manchester in the second qualification match of the day vs. the
tournament favorite Mustangs of Clio High School. Clio entered the tournament with a 6-1 record against mostly division 2 teams.
During the first half of the game, the two teams battled and very strong defense by Harvey, Bennett, Ballnik, and Helmke kept the Mustangs off the scoreboard. Unfortunately, the Lady Dutch were unable to convert their opportunities and, at halftime, it was 0-0. Six minutes into the second, Clio scored the first goal of the game, giving the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. In the time remaining, both teams played very physical, with some injuries resulting on both sides. In the end, the Lady Dutch were unable to find the equalizer and the Mustangs prevailed 1-0.
The second game for the Lady Dutch was played against Parma Western following the match vs Clio, with just 15 minutes of rest for Manchester. In another physical match, the Lady Dutch held Parma Western scoreless for most of the first half. With 0:15 left on the clock, Parma Western scored their first giving them the 1-0 lead entering halftime. In the second half, Manchester again played very good defense, but near the end of the match, obvious fatigue by the Manchester players was apparent and Parma Western scored two quick goals in the last 5 minutes of the match for a 3-0 victory.
“It was a tough day physically for our team.”, said head coach Dan Tar. “The girls played 120 minutes of soccer with very little rest. They played strong and with a lot of heart. Our first match was good; holding the eventual tournament winners to one goal is something to be proud of. Given some more rest, and some more subs, our second game would have been different. In the end, this is the kind of challenge we need to get ready for district playoffs.”
The overall tournament champion was Clio HS with a 3-1 victory over Clinton in the final match of the day.
For the week of May 2, the Lady Dutch have two matches:
· May 2, 5:30 pm vs Lansing Christian @ Away (3405 Belle Chase Way, Lansing 48911)
· May 4, 5:30 pm vs Springport HS @ Away (300 W Main St, Springport 49284)
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