LocalSportsJournal.com
BIG RAPIDS — Ludington closed the regular season Monday night with a 4-0 non-conference soccer victory over the Big Rapids Cardinals in Big Rapids.
It was the Orioles’ second straight win after they suffered a 2-1 loss to North Muskegon in the West Michigan Conference finale and finished second in the league.
Ludington built a 3-0 lead by the end of the first half and limited the Cardinals to just five shots on goal. All five were denied by the goalie combination of Caleb Sheldon (two saves) and Gabe Gamez (three saves).
“We came up a little short of one of our goals, unfortunately, but those things happen,” said Ludington head coach Kris Anderson. “Now we’ll see what we can achieve here in the postseason.”
Yebe Boerema tallied the first Oriole goal off an assist from Ryan Kandalec, the second was second by Alex Smith off a corner kick by Boerema and Jonah Sweet got the third when he headed the ball into the net.
Parker Wendt punched in the final goal in the second half, also on a corner kick.
“We have everybody healthy, so we should be ready to go,” Anderson said. “We got everybody a lot of playing time, and they all played well. Since it wasn’t a conference game, and not in the playoffs, it gave us an opportunity to work on some things. It was almost a scrimmage kind of game.
“I’m very encouraged with where we are, and where we’re headed. I think we’re focused on where we want to be, and what we want to accomplish. We’ll see how deep a run we can make.”
Ludington takes a 15-5 record into the district tournament, starting Thursday at Oriole Field against Bay City Central.
