LocalSportsJournal.com
WHITEHALL — It was as close as they come.
But the Manistee boys soccer team pulled out a tight 2-1 victory over the Whitehall Vikings in a West Michigan Conference battle on Wednesday.
Even more important, it erased the bad taste left from a 6-0 loss to Montague the game before and keeps the Mariners with a breath of life in the conference race.
Certainly, it’s an uphill climb now with Fremont holding onto first place with no conference losses and Ludington right behind with one.
The loss to Montague was the Mariners’ second in the conference, leaving them clinging to a small opening to stay in the hunt at 3-2-2 overall.
Luke Senters snapped the Mariners’ scoreless streak when he went in for an unassisted tally, and Jack O’Donnell finished the Manistee scoring on an assist from Luke Smith.
“The guys did a nice job of rebounding themselves internally, and showing up and playing the way we should play,” said Manistee coach Brandon Prince. “We knew tonight who we were going to be going against, but it was just shaking off the experience from Monday and getting back to who we are.
“We tried a couple of things with personnel and formations, and it fell flat, literally speaking (Monday).”
Manistee goalie Grayson Prince ended up with six saves, and the one he didn’t get was the result of what Coach Prince (his father) said was a great shot that he made an attempt at, but failed to snare.
“He did great job with game management,” the coach said of the goalie. “I think his distribution from the back to get out and go was spot on. He saw the field well. But also, when it came to the end of the game, he won the balls he had to win. He commanded the defense back there very well. It’s good to have a keeper like that back there.”
The Mariners step away from the conference for their next game, coming up Thursday at home against Glen Lake.
Whitehall (5-6-0, 4-3-0 WMC) travels to Spring Lake for its next game next Monday.
Photos by Leo Valdez
