MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP – Liam Smith netted his team's first two goals on Tuesday and inched even closer to the Reeths-Puffer career scoring record.
So it would only stand to reason that the standout senior completed the hat trick and also scored the dramatic winning goal, right?
But as it turned out, the biggest tally of the evening came from Smith's old pal and teammate, fellow senior Kyler Brainard.
With eight minutes left in the game and the score tied, Smith got the ball to Brainard in the midst of some chaos in front of the Holland goal and Brainard found the back of the net, giving the Rockets a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Dutch in a key O-K Green conference matchup at R-P's Eric Marcil Field.
Reeths-Puffer won its sixth game in a row and improved to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
The two late-game heroes heaped praise on each other when the tight contest was finally over.
R-P's Nick Clemens (7) approaches the Holland goal with a defender lurking. Photo/Jeremy Clark
“Honestly, all credit goes to Liam because that pass couldn’t be better,” Brainard said. “Credit goes to the whole offense because everyone kept their heads up after (Holland's) second goal and everyone kept working.”
“Kyler is always there at the top of the six and I saw him wide open,” Smith said. “The chemistry’s there – we’ve been playing together since we were little - so I slotted him the ball and it was a great finish.”
Smith's two goals brought his career total to 73. The school record is 76 goals, held by former player Nate Schmitt, a close friend of R-P head coach Kody Harrell.
“We play Muskegon on Thursday and respectfully, he (Smith) could break it then,” Harrell said about the matchup with the Big Reds. “That’s a game that’s been kind to us in the past.”
Tuesday’s victory was the first win of the season that wasn’t a shutout for the Rockets. It was also only the second time an opponent scored a goal before the Rockets did, with the other being a game against Forest Hills Northern, the only team to beat R-P this season.
R-P's Cohen Beck (12) battles for the ball with a Holland player. Photo/Jeremy Clark
At the 30-minute mark of the first half, Holland senior forward Malakai Lopez juked out some Rocket defenders and fired a laser to the far-right side of the net, giving the Dutch an early 1-0 lead.
Reeths-Puffer flirted with several near goals before Smith took a ball up the middle and launched a zinger to tie the game 1-1 at the 12-minute mark.
“I stole it from a kid in the middle,” Smith said. “I saw space and one of my best attributes is driving out kids. I beat the kid, saw the far post, goal.”
Two minutes into the second half, Smith fired a ball low to the ground off a free kick and it went right past the goalkeeper, giving the Rockets their first lead of the game, 2-1.
“I can’t really explain it,” Smith said. “I shot the ball, it took a good deflection and it went in. Thanks to the soccer gods for that one.”
R-P's Carson Cooper rushes up the field with the ball. Photo/Jeremy Clark
With 15 minutes remaining, Holland’s Odis Fickel won a foot race with several R-P defenders and propelled the ball to the back of the net, tying the game once again at 2-2.
That set up Brainard’s heroic winning goal.
The R-P defense preserved the victory by staving off some intense pressure from the Dutch offense in the final moments. Smith, normally a forward, dropped back at the end to help keep Holland from tying the game and saw how tough it was to seal down the win.
“When I dropped back, I realized how intense this game was,” he said. “We go up 3-2, it’s almost like they pinned us in our half (of the field). It’s just a team effort at that point. It was chaos.
“We wanted it, we gave our heart and that’s why we represent this badge.”
Both teams had eight shots on goal. Holland led with eight corner kicks while the Rockets had two.
