Story and photos by Tara Hefferan Newaygo Lions Soccer took to the road on Wednesday to battle the Reed City Coyotes. After dominating possession for most of the 80 minutes of play, the Lions emerged victorious, with a 2-0 win against the Coyotes. The Lions entered the match with intensity, scoring just 1 minute after the opening whistle. The play unfolded with a series of sequence passing that began with Aby Lauryssens on the left side of the midfield passing the ball to Lena Wagner. Wagner dropped the ball back to Landry Hefferan Nordlund, who one-touched it forward to Rachel Larsen. Larsen did a give-and-go with Wagner, to move the ball into the box. Under defensive pressure, Larsen made a pull-back move to drop the ball to Wagner, who had moved to the 18-yard line. From that position, Wagner struck the ball to the lower left side of the net, getting Newaygo on the board. As the remaining 39 minutes of the first half unfolded, the Lions fired 14 more shots compared to the Coyotes’ 2 and entered halftime with a 1-0 lead. Following the break, the Coyotes took the field reenergized and attempted to step up their attack. The Lions continued to apply pressure of their own, however, and were rewarded for their efforts about 5 minutes into the second half. Hefferan Nordlund forced a Coyote turnover in the midfield and made a short pass to Larsen. Seeing a surging Luella Hilden pressuring the defensive line, Larsen sent a through ball to the top of the box, splitting the two Coyote defenders. Hilden sprung to pick up the pass, placing herself in a one-versus-one with the Coyote Keeper. Hilden beat the Keeper, smashing the ball into the lower left corner of the net to put the Lions ahead 2-0. Despite the Coyote’s redoubled efforts in the second half, Captain Natalie Richardson, leading her backline of Valeria Torres, Liliana Herrera, Jaycee Mielkee, and Diana Hernandez, shut down most attacks before they could become dangerous. Reed City put up five shots against Newaygo in the second half, with Keeper Ella Soules handily stopping the three that were on frame. The Lions took 9 shots in the second half, scoring on one.
The Lions are now 2-3-0 in conference play and 4-4-1 overall. Keeper Soules has earned her third clean sheet of the season with the shut-out over Reed City. The Lions next play at 5:00 PM on Friday in Montague.
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