CALEDONIA - The Reeths-Puffer soccer team is definitely in a scoring slump, but at least it didn’t cause the Rockets to lose a game on Thursday.
R-P went on the road and played to a tense 0-0 tie against a good Caledonia squad in O-K Green conference action.
Reeths-Puffer is now 6-2-2 overall on the season and 1-1-1 in conference play. Caledonia is 3-3-1 and 1-1-1.
The lack of scoring has become a bit of a recurring theme for the Rockets, who have been shut out in three of their past four games – losses to Jenison and West Ottawa and the tie with Caledonia.
R-P's Landon Nash (6) moves the ball up the field. Photo/Noah Peterson
A 9-0 victory over a struggling Muskegon squad was the only recent sign of offense for Reeths-Puffer.
R-P head coach Kody Harrell wasn’t overly concerned, however, because he knows his team has talented scorers, and the goals will eventually come.
“It’s kind of like the monkey on our back or that elephant in the room,” Harrell said. “We all know we haven’t really scored in a big game in a while. We know it’s just one of those things where once we get one to go in, they’ll start pouring in, because we have good attackers and good players.
“I love their effort and their attention to detail. I love their attitudes. We’ve just got to clean up some things in the attack and we’ll be all right.”
R-P's Owen Ritsema (13) battles for the ball. Photo/Noah Peterson
The Rockets actually had a good opportunity to break through when a Caledonia player was given his second yellow card and ejected early in the second half, meaning R-P played with a one-man advantage for the rest of the game.
That did not result in a goal, however.
They had a final chance with a free kick with 19 seconds remaining, but the shot sailed over the Caledonia net and the scoreless tie remained.
Caledonia outshot Reeths-Puffer 7-4. R-P goalie Liam Copenhaver recorded the shutout.
Harrell credited R-P’s back defensive line of Trent Plummer, Kaden Vanderlaan, Blake Kiel, Evan McHugh and Andrew Eilers for very strong play. He also had praise for midfielder Landon Nash and forward Owen Ritsema.
R-P's Blake Kiel. Photo/Noah Peterson
"We played the ball quicker tonight, so that was nice to see,” Harrell said. “But once we got within 25 yards of their goal, the last pass, the last touch on the ball, the decision to dribble, pass, or shoot just seemed to not really go in our favor, so we need to clean up our decision-making.”
The Rockets will have three challenging games next week, starting at home on Tuesday against rival Mona Shores, on Thursday on the road against conference-leading Byron Center, then back home a week from Saturday against a very strong Fruitport squad.
“With a huge week coming up, we know we need to get our rhythm going in the attack again,” Harrell said.