MUSKEGON TWP. - The Reeths-Puffer soccer team is still struggling to score, at least in the conventional way, but let’s give some credit where credit is due.
Sometimes the best defense is an active offense, and the Rocket attackers filled that role beautifully on Tuesday.
They kept the play in the Mona Shores zone for most of the night, most importantly in the first 20 minutes of the second half, preventing the Sailors from mounting any sort of attack until the final minutes.
Mona Shores finally managed a few late shots, but a several great defensive plays, and some gutsy saves by R-P goalie Liam Copenhaver, proved enough to preserve an intense 1-0 victory for the Rockets in the latest edition of the rivalry showdown at R-P’s Eric Marcil Field.
R-P's Owen Ritsema leaps over a fallen Mona Shores goalie. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Reeths-Puffer, now 7-2-2 overall and 2-1-1 in the O-K Green conference, has now beaten Mona Shores five games in a row, dating back to the 2023 season.
The only goal of the game came late in the first half, on a penalty kick by R-P senior Blake Kiel. He got the opportunity after Mona Shores goalkeeper Parker Rose came out to try to play a loose ball and took down an R-P player in the box.
Kiel’s goal was the Rockets’ first since Aug. 27, when they scored nine in a victory over a struggling Muskegon squad. Before Tuesday, R-P had been shut out in three of its previous four games.
“It’s been a minute," Kiel said about getting the first R-P goal in three games. “I hadn’t scored since the Muskegon game, so it felt good, especially in a rivalry game. I have a lot of faith in my PKs, so I just got the opportunity and took it.”
Blake Kiel (3), who scored the only goal, pursues the ball. Photo/Jeremy Clark
If offensive effort and shots guaranteed victory, the game would not have been such a cliffhanger. The Rockets had a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal, including a 4-0 edge in the first half.
The most impressive part of the attack came within the first 20 minutes of the second half, when the Rockets kept the ball pinned in the Sailor end and had chance after chance to take a two-goal lead.
Several shots went just high or wide, and a few others were stopped by the Sailor goalie. During all of it, however, Mona Shores had to focus on stopping R-P, and had no chance to mount an attack of its own.
That alone was worth a lot, because it kept the Sailors occupied and the R-P defenders fresh, according to Reeths-Puffer head coach Kody Harrell.
R-P's Carson McCollum (15) tries to get to a loose ball. Photo/Jeremy Clark
“I didn’t have to sub my entire back line today,” he said. “The guys up front kept the pressure on and allowed them to keep fresh legs.
Mona Shores finally got its first shot on goal with 7:42 left in the game.
The Sailors’ best opportunity came before that, with about 13 minutes remaining, when a Sailor broke in alone with the ball and appeared to have a great one-on-one opportunity against Copenhaver.
But R-P senior defender Trent Plummer caught up with him and disrupted the play before a shot could occur.
R-P's Chase Hoeft tries to move the ball through a maze of Sailors. Photo/Jeremy Clark
Mona Shores managed to put some pressure on the R-P goal late in the game, but Copenhaver maintained his composure and kept the Sailors off the scoreboard.
The goalie got a big ovation from the crowd with 10:35 left, when Mona Shores had a corner kick and the ball went right into a big crowd in front of the R-P goal. Copenhaver leaped above everyone and snared the ball high in the air, keeping any damage from occurring.
Copehaver posted his second straight shutout. Last week he kept Caledonia scoreless in what turned out to be a 0-0 tie.
“He’s done a really good job between the pipes back there, being confident, being big in the air and absorbing the hits,” Harrell said about Copenhaver.
Zac Sousa Sampson kicks the ball away from a charging Sailor. Photo/Jeremy Clark
The Rockets still have two big challenges later this week, visiting conference-leading Byron Center on Thursday and hosting a very good Fruitport squad on Saturday morning.
There’s a decent chance they will have to score more than one goal to win either of those games.
“It’s just about us continuing to work on our decision-making (on offense),” Harrell said. “We’ve had a few guys out, we’ve been moving guys around a little bit, and sort of adapting on the fly. Plus they are teenagers. They know they have not scored much lately and they’ve been playing tense, no matter what I say.
“We will just have to keep weathering the storm and the goals will come.”