JENISON – Reeths-Puffer soccer coach Kody Harrell described the second half of the Rockets’ road clash with Jenison on Thursday as an audition for the upcoming state tournament.
After all, the competition gets tough in districts and beyond, and teams have to put points on the scoreboard to advance.
As it turned out, the Rockets responded well to the audition, finally ending a lengthy scoring drought and posting a big win.
R-P's Andrew Eilers (4) races up the field. Photo/Noah Peterson
R-P amped up the intensity in the midfield after halftime, became more physical with its on-the-ball pressure and collected a pair of goals just 47 seconds apart in a crucial 2-1 victory over the Wildcats.
Reeths-Puffer was in the midst of a one-goal in five games drought, but senior Carson McCollum put that to an end by scoring both goals, which were assisted by fellow senior Owen Ritsema.
The victory, which avenged an earlier 2-0 loss to Jenison, left the Rockets with an 8-3-3 overall record and a 3-2-1 mark in the O-K Green conference standings.
“Huge win,” Harrell said. “Jenison is a very good team, and getting it on the road is big. We’ve had a really tough few weeks, not only with our results, but the quality of opponents we’ve been facing - really fast, really physical teams with a lot of depth.
R-P's Carson McCollum (15), who scored both goals. Photo/Noah Peterson
“I challenged them a little bit at the half. We talked about competitive spirit, especially this time of year. Districts are in three weeks. So win or lose, we just want to feel good about ourselves going into districts.”
It took the Rockets a while to get going. They were outshot 6-1 in the first half, and fell behind 1-0 with 13:04 left when Jenison freshman Silas Brumels blasted a low free kick to the left corner of the net from about 30 yards out.
The Rockets had a pair of quality scoring chances late in the first half, but two headers from sophomore Evan McHugh glanced just left of the goal and out of bounds. One was off a looping corner kick from Ritsema and the other on a floating centering pass from McCollum.
R-P's Cohen Beck (12) tries to get control of a bouncing ball. Photo/Noah Peterson
The Reeths-Puffer coaches recognized that the players weren’t matching the Wildcats’ energy, and Harrell called them out at halftime.
“We told them this has nothing to do with skill, it has nothing with them as people, but the effort (is not there),” Harrell said. “The way we responded and the way we pressed them in the second half was much, much better.
“That’s what we’re accustomed to seeing here. We have good players, but we really pride ourselves as being a blue collar, roll-the-sleeves-up type of program, and that allows us to get goals after pressing and stuff like that.”
The Rockets responded quickly.
R-P's Owen Ritsema, who had two assists. Photo/Noah Peterson
McCollum’s first goal came about 7 ½ minutes into the second half. He controlled a bouncing pass sent in by Ritsema, and the Wildcats’ defense was slow marking him, allowing McCollum to send a direct shot into the net.
Just 47 seconds later, Jenison again failed to mark McCollum near the net, and he blasted in a nice centering pass for the game-winner.
“We just had better spacing in the midfield and filled the (open) pockets,” McCollum said about the improved attack in the second half. “We did a better job keeping our heads up and finding the outside strikers (with passes), hitting their feet.”
McCollum plays the ball off his chest. Photo/Noah Peterson
The Rockets completely took Jenison out of its game the rest of the way, and R-P goalie Liam Copenhaver was never seriously threatened.
“We possessed the rest of the game and didn’t let them get another chance - it was awesome,” McCollum said.
Jenison finished with a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal.