The Reeths-Puffer soccer team kept rolling on Tuesday, pulling away in the second half to defeat Zeeland East 4-1 on the road in O-K Green conference action.
The victory sets up a showdown with powerful Zeeland West on Thursday at home in the final regular season conference game. A win would give the Rockets the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
The Rockets only led 1-0 at halftime, then added three more goals in the second half.
The three-goal burst was led off by senior Liam Smith, who managed to get the ball over the defensive line on a free kick and into the top part of the Zeeland East net.
Liam Smith, who finished with two goals and an assist.
R-P followed with two more goals in the next seven minutes to take control of the game.
Zeeland East scored its lone goal near the end of the contest.
Smith finished with two goals while Nick Clemens and Zac Sampson also found the net for Reeths-Puffer.
Smith and Aiden McCollum had assists for the Rockets, who outshot their opponents 16-4.
R-P Coach Kody Harrell credited JT Fansler, Cohen Beck and Kyler Brainard for strong midfield play.
“We looked really fast today,” Harrell said. “Our defensive hustle was excellent, and we looked extremely sharp with our passing. I love the confidence and tempo the boys are playing with right now. This was one of our better performances of the season.”
The Rockets are now 10-2-1 overall and 5-1 in the O-K Green.
