Manistee soccer slips by Orchard View by the slimmest of margins, 1-0

By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com

MANISTEE — It wasn’t the cleanest game Manistee has ever played, marred by four yellow cards in the second half – two by the Mariners – but in the end, the Mariners secured a tight 1-0 win over Orchard View on Monday.

Playing their only home game scheduled for this week, the Mariners didn’t get on the board until more than 20 minutes had burned off the clock in the first half.

But seeing that zero up on the other side after the fnal seconds had ticked off had Manistee coach Brandon Prince breaking out into a big grin afterward.

“Like we’ve always said, that zero on the other end we’ll take and move on,” Prince said. “I always tell the kids, ‘You go get me one and hold them to nothing you’ll be just fine, trust me.’

“It’s hard to get frustrated when they do what I tell them to do, and they did. They created some offensive stuff. You saw some opportunities, and some build ups that were good,” he said. “Maybe one too many touches here and there, but they were aggressive at it. The back four played tremendously, and Grayson (Prince, the Mariners’ keeper) did good.”

The Mariners – without leading scorer Jacob Scharp, who suffered a season-ending injury two games ago – finally broke through for a goal at 11:43 before halftime when Cole Outman buried a shot past the keeper. Mason Robinson sent a crisp pass in front of the goal to set it up.

Despite the chances Manistee produced, the Mariners just missed on several shots, including a pair that sailed over the cross bar, and the Cardinals back line kept the goal mouth congested all game.

“Orchard View is a good team. They work hard,” added Prince. “They have a good set. They move the ball well. It made it difficult sometimes for us to get in front of the ball. They counter really fast, and that’s good to see. They had good intensity.

“But, our guys were up to the challenge. Maybe not the cleanest game offensively for us, a little dull.”

Prince praised the work of Jaret Edmondson, who won several balls and even found himself in position to put a shot on frame a couple of times, but just didn’t connect.

Jacob Scharp’s younger brother, sophomore Max – also an accomplished golfer – has become the team’s unspoken leader on the field and Will Somsel, his voice cracking most of the night as he battled illness, shined as well.

The Mariners (9-2-2, 4-2-2 WMC) step out of the conference Thursday with a road trip to Traverse City Christian at the Keystone Soccer Complex.

Orchard View dropped to 5-12-1 overall and 1-8 in the conference has a non-conference game schedule at Wyomng Lee on Friday.

Photo/Greg Geilczyk