CEDAR SPRINGS - Considering everything that went wrong for the Reeths-Puffer soccer team on Thursday, it’s a wonder that the outcome wasn’t far worse than it was.
Standout senior goalie Liam Copehaver went down with head injury 10 minutes into the game and could not return. Exchange student Jesus Hidalgo received his second yellow card and was ejected from the game in the second half, forcing the Rockets to play one man short for about 12 minutes.
But somehow Reeths-Puffer maintained the quality of its play and kept it close all the way to the end, before finally falling to host Cedar Springs 1-0 in a tense Division 2 district championship game.
The loss ended the season for the Rockets, who finished with a very nice 15-6-3 record, including eight wins in their last 11 games.
R-P's Owen Ritsema (13) heads a ball toward the Cedar Springs goal. Photo/John Willoughby
The Rockets shared a lot of hugs and tears as they gathered after the game, and head coach Kody Harrell said it was tough to say goodbye to a great group of 13 seniors who brought a lot to the program.
“This senior class has raised the bar, raised the standard,” the coach said. “They are great young men, top to bottom.”
The Rockets seemed to be in great shape as the contest began. They controlled the offensive tempo in the first half and had several very good scoring opportunities, but failed to hit the mark.
Copenhaver went down after making a stop on a crossing shot in front of the R-P goal, with almost 10 minutes off the clock.
R-P's Cohen Beck rips a shot under tight defensive coverage. Photo/John Willoughby
He was finally able to walk off the field on his own, but team officials determined he showed signs of a possible concussion, and they weren’t going to take any chances with his health.
‘It was a collision with one of their players who was trying to head the ball, and his elbow caught Liam in the side of the head,” Harrell said. “Our staff as a whole just didn’t feel right putting him back in harm’s way. He was experiencing all the symptoms.
“It was tough, with a senior goalie who set our shutout record this season. He looked at me and said ‘I’m sorry coach,’ but I told him he had nothing to be sorry about.”
Copenhaver was replaced by freshman Evan McCollum, who was the junior varsity goalkeeper this year. He played well, making several good saves to keep the Rockets very much in the game the rest of the way.
R-P goalie Evan McCollum dives to make sure a shot stays wide. Photo/John Willoughby
“We have a couple of goalies who are juniors, but Evan really earned the right to be in that situation,” Harrell said. “He definitely made some saves, and cut off the angles on a few crosses that could have become goals. He made several good plays tonight.”
The game was scoreless at halftime. Cedar Springs broke the deadlock about seven minutes into the second half when Ian Stearns rifled a shot from about 30 yards out to the left of the sprawling McCollum and into the net.
“We knew No. 10 could absolutely rip it,” Harrell said about Stearns. “He has a rifle of a shot. So tonight Cedar Springs had a really good player make a really good play."
The situation grew even more dire for the Rockets about five minutes later when Hidalgo was called for a routine tripping foul and received a yellow card. The trouble was that it was his second yellow of the game, which equals a red card and an automatic ejection.
R-P's Trent Plummer (16) tries to clear the ball from the Rocket zone. Photo/John Willoughby
Teams are not allowed to replace players who leave with red cards, so the Rockets had to play for about 12 minutes with only 10 players on the field, compared to the full 11 for the Red Hawks.
R-P did an amazing job in that tough situation, keeping Cedar Springs from capitalizing and scoring again.
"We have a specific formation in place for how we can still be aggressive but not overdue it in those situations, when a red card does happen,” Harrell said. “Even though we were down a man, we still dominated for 12 minutes.”
The Rockets got a break with 16:16 left when a Cedar Springs player also received a red card, meaning the teams played at equal strength the rest of the way.
R-P's Evan McHugh (20) brings the ball up the field. Photo/John Willoughby
Unfortunately R-P could not score the equalizer. The Rockets came very close on a corner kick with 3:25 remaining, when Owen Ritsema, planted in front of the Cedar Springs net, managed to get his head on the ball, but it went just a little too high and over the goal.
Harrell said the Red Hawks did a good job of packing in their defense, particularly toward the end of the game, and keeping the Rockets off the board.
“They defended with a lot of guys,” the coach said. “Most formations have four defenders. They had seven at one point. They were boxing in really well. They did what they had to do.”