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Two local boys soccer teams in the middle of solid seasons met on Tuesday evening as Manchester hosted Lakeland Christian. The game was an interesting one, with both sides having plenty of opportunity to get onto the scoreboard. However, just one goal made it into the back of the net as a second-half score by the Squires was enough for the home team to escape with a 1-0 victory.
While Lakeland Christian dominated possession for the first 10 minutes of the game, the back line of Manchester did a great job for the most part of preventing their opponent from creating any meaningful chances off of those long spells with the ball. In fact, the first real opportunity of the game came eight minutes into the contest on a Squire corner kick. It didn’t end up making it to the net, but it flipped momentum suddenly, leading to a period of control for the home team.
At the head of this attack was senior Isaiah Acosta, who generated most if not all of the Squires’ scoring chances during this stretch. Whether he was making a long run towards the goal or stealing possession to initiate the counter attack, he was everywhere. However, like LCA, his team was unable to find that final ball to put in the opener in the back of the net.
Cougar striker Eli Clemens very nearly scored that opening goal with about 17 minutes left in the first half. He timed his run perfectly and was fed a lead pass at just the right moment, creating a breakaway opportunity. He got a shot off, but it bent just a tad more than he would have liked, sailing wide as the game remained scoreless.
This led to another shift in momentum, this time towards Lakeland Christian. It spawned a pair of corner kicks, but still the game remained tied. LCA had a golden opportunity on the first corner, as Manchester keeper Grady Kerr mistimed his jump, but the shot attempt was whiffed on.
Even as both teams added shots on goal over the final five minutes of the first half, both Kerr and Cougar keeper Harry Steger were able to come up with key saves to keep things knotted up as the halftime whistle sounded.
Manchester senior Ethan Whiteman (L) moves in to defend as LCA's Zaiden Miller controls the ball...Nieter
The first five minutes of the second half were nothing but an onslaught by LCA, as the visitors put multiple shots on goal in a hurry. Testing the keeper Kerr, the freshman was up to the challenge. During this initial rush he stopped all four shots he faced, including two impressive ones that kept surefire goals out of the net. Thanks in large part to his effort, it was still a 0-0 game.
The game’s trends continued as it wore on. Both teams were trading momentum like crazy, and because of this, were able to come away with their fair share of chances. However, both goalies had stepped up their game substantially in this second half, and goals were now somehow even harder to come by. Midway through the final set of 40 minutes, the contest still lacked a score.
Finally, with just under 13 minutes left, Manchester finally got on the board. After weathering another storm that saw them get peppered by a plethora of shots, the Squires were able to survive and launch the counterattack. A good run by Eli Klose was punctuated by a perfect pass back to Acosta. The senior did the rest, burying his shot into the bottom left corner of the net to put his team on the board late in the match.
Now the Cougars were all of a sudden chasing a goal late in the match. They kicked the offense up another notch, clearly willing to take more risks in order to try and generate more chances. This sword was double-edged though, and Manchester was doing a great job defensively of capitalizing on those risks and turning them into attacks at the other end. Soon less than five minutes remained, and both sides were still putting up the same amount of shots.
Time continued to tick away, and the Squire defense was doing a great job of keeping LCA out of the opposing end. As the final minutes disappeared, it was actually the home team that appeared to be closer to scoring the game’s second goal, as they put the finishing touches on a hard-earned win.
Manchester (6-6-1) is at Mississinewa on Wednesday. Lakeland Christian (8-3-1) is on the road at Trinity on Friday.
