By Greg Gielczyk  
LocalSportsJournal.com  

MANISTEE — Manistee wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in Wednesday afternoon’s West Michigan Conference Lakes Division against Ravenna.

The Chippewas found the back of the net less than two minutes into the game, which was played in unseasonable 82-degree heat and a stiff breeze.  

But they would not score again. Fortunately, the defense and goaltending of sophomore keeper Piper Eskridge made it hold up for a 1-0 victory over the Bulldogs.  

It was quite a difference for the Chippewas, who had breezed to lopsided wins in both of their first two games of the season in outscoring their opponents by a combined 16-1.  

“That was tight,” said Manistee coach Kathy Smith, barely able to contain her excitement. “We had a lot of great efforts in the midfield, just really working back to help on defense. I thought our defense did a really good job of holding, and when they needed to go fast, they went fast. (Abby) Robinson had a lot of great volleys. She didn’t have time to bring it down and do something with it.”

The midfield work of the Chippewas also was key in containing the Bulldogs.

“Our midfield worked really well,” said Smith. “At the very end there we dropped three center-midfielders and just kept one striker up top, just because we were feeling the pressure.”  

Allison Kelley set up the scoring play for the Chippewas when she forced the Bulldogs to play the ball out on the wing and then alertly made a quick throw that Emily Rabeler finished off for the goal with 38:27 left in the first half.  

It was quick thinking on Kelley’s part, because it caught the Bulldogs off guard for a brief moment, and that’s all Rabeler needed.  

Smith was impressed with the defense, which had practiced hard on positioning the day before and it paid off, and Eskridge responded well to the pressure she hadn’t felt in the first two games.  

Manistee makes its first road trip of the season Friday when it travels to Suttons Bay for a non-conference contest.  

Ravenna (1-1) will travel to Lakeview on Friday afternoon.

Photos courtesy of LSJ photographer Greg Gielczyk