MUSKEGON TWP - One one hand, it’s really hard to shut out a great team like Fruitport, so that was a big plus for the Reeths-Puffer soccer team on Saturday.
It’s also pretty hard to score on the Trojans, who had held their opponents without a goal in three of their past four games – and the Rockets have not been doing much scoring lately, anyway.
In the end the result was a 0-0 tie between Reeths-Puffer and Fruitport in a spirited, physical non-conference matchup at R-P’s Eric Marcil Field.
R-P goalkeeper Liam Copenhaver comes out to snag the ball.
Reeths-Puffer is now 7-3-3 on the season. Fruitport, which came into the game with a seven-game winning streak, is also 7-3-3.
R-P’s defensive and goalkeeping effort was admirable, to say the least.
The Trojans only had a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal, according to the scoreboard, but Fruitport had a significant edge in scoring opportunities, and kept the offensive pressure on the Rockets for a good part of the game.
R-P's Kaden Vanderlaan (19), Evan McHugh (20) and Cohen Beck (12) play group defense.
“Really proud of our defense for owning their role,” said R-P head coach Kody Harrell.
R-P goalkeeper Liam Copenhaver was outstanding, diving and leaping and coming out to stop plays before they had a chance to develop. He has three shutouts in his last four games.
“He’s approaching the team record (for shutouts),” Harrell said about Copenhaver. “I am pretty confident he’s three away from the single season record.”
R-P's Kaleb Fowler (left) and Blake Kiel (3) converge on a loose ball.
The lack of goals, on the other hand, was nothing new for the Rockets. In three games over the past week, they managed only one, and that was on a penalty kick.
R-P came out of the week with a 1-1-1 record, and two of those games were against state-ranked teams, so all-in-all the result was not too bad.
But in seven of eight games since a season-opening weekend tournament, the Rockets have only scored two goals. They had nine goals in the other game against a struggling Muskegon team.
Reeths-Puffer has been shut out in four of its last five games, including a 0-0 tie against Caledonia.
Kiel (3) battles in front of the R-P goal.
Harrell noted that junior London Carpenter, a big part of the offensive attack, has been out with an illness for several weeks, making the Rockets a little less threatening up front.
“He’s an important guy in the scoring third, but we should still be scoring goals,” the coach said.
“We’re playing really good teams, very organized defensive teams, but we’re going to have to keep plugging away. It’s going to take a little more focus on our opportunities. Sometimes we rush opportunities.
“We have to keep our chins up. We tried a different formation today, so we’re kind of fine-tuning some things.”