Story and photos by Tara Hefferan Newaygo Lions soccer traveled to Hart on Friday, May 5 to take on the Pirates. The Lions emerged victorious, with a 4-0 win. This marked the Lions 9th shut out of the season, bringing their overall record to 10-0-1. Today was a special day at Newaygo High School, because students volunteered in the community as part of “Lions United” day. The Lions painted fences and fire hydrants, cleaned up the cemetery, and participated in other community engagement activities for the first part of the day, while the second half was spent playing games on the football field. For the soccer team, this meant the school day was spent outdoors, engaged in physical activity, before game time. So, many of the players arrived on the pitch marked by sunburn and fatigue. As Barbara Toth described it, the Lions arrived in Hart already “exhausted,” and Belen Torres said “playing after being outside all day” was a challenge. Agreeing, Josie Hilden said, “Lions United had us pretty tired.” Today’s game was unusual, too, because Newaygo had scrimmaged Hart earlier in the season. Due to a scheduling error, the Lions had made the trek to Hart in April, only to find the Pirates were not expecting them, meaning no referees were present. So, the teams decided then to scrimmage instead, giving them a chance to size up one another before officially meeting today in regulation play. As Grace Painter said, “A game is very different from a scrimmage. Today, it was a lot more competitive. We had to come out and match that energy.” Sofia Briggs said, “we knew they were going to be more prepared. So, we had to step it up.” Of note too was the weather. After this past week’s games under frigid temperatures and gale force winds, tonight’s weather was a relief. As Natalie Richardson said, “It was nice to get some sunshine, and it was easier to pass the ball around the field, because it wasn’t as windy.” Under blue skies and moderate temperatures, the Lions opened scoring 9 minutes into the match when Belen Torres won the ball and passed it to Connelly Hefferan Nordlund. Hefferan Nordlund sent a long ball to Grace Painter, who sped up the right side of the field to beat the lone defender patrolling the right post. As the keeper moved to block the shot, Painter slotted it past her into the left corner. The Lions were up 1-0. The next goal came five minutes later. Aby Lauryssens made a crisp short pass to Hefferan Nordlund, who sent the ball forward to McCaiden Rienstra. Rienstra approached goal head on, powering the ball into the middle of the net, over the keeper’s head. Thirteen minutes into the match, the Lions were ahead 2-0. As the final minutes of the half dwindled down, Hart’s players made a few incursions into Lion territory, energizing the Pirate’s fans. Despite putting on a bit of pressure, however, the Pirates were unable to crack the robust defensive line of Sofia Briggs, Maddie Couch, Natalie Richardson, and Rachel Larsen. As the halftime whistle blew, the Pirates had been allowed no shots, while Lions had fired in six. The second half opened with the Lions continuing to control the game’s pace. The Lions scored just four minutes after returning to the field. Hefferan Nordlund found Painter in the center of the field. Painter drove toward goal, and while swarmed by defenders, created enough space to get a shot off into the lower left corner of the net. The Lions were up 3-0. Despite being down three goals, Hart continued to pressure the ball. As Kallyn Moore noted, “they were really aggressive.” The Pirates played hard and due to fouls, gave up several free kicks to Newaygo. The Pirate’s fans expressed displeasure with the referees’ calls, as did Hart coach Joe Gilbert. Charged with too much dissenting, Gilbert was issued a yellow card infraction with 9 minutes remaining. The final goal of the match came with just 7 minutes of play left. As the Lions transitioned to an offensive posture, Painter sent a through ball to Hefferan Nordlund, who found herself in a one vs. one with the keeper. Seeing the keeper charge out of net toward the ball, Hefferan Nordlund chipped a lob over the keeper’s head, securing the fourth goal of the game. This brought Newaygo to 4, while the Pirates stood at 0. In the second half Lions Keeper Barbara Toth faced just two shots, which she easily scooped up. Toth has recorded 9 clean sheets this season, and tonight earned her 6th consecutive shut-out. Newaygo Lions Coach Matt Painter said, “Early in the season we traveled to Hart, only to find out that our schedule was wrong! Tonight, we corrected that mistake and took to the field but without two of our starters. Thankfully, we have versatile players who are willing to play wherever we ask them! The girls spent the day outside doing community service as part of Lions United day, and I was pretty concerned that they would be overly tired for the game. After naps on the bus and slow warm-ups, they found their stride and played well enough for a solid win. We now need to turn our attention to a full week of conference games!”
The Lions play next on Monday, May 8 at 4:30 PM on the road against the Grant Tigers. The Lions are currently tied for first place in the CSAA conference standings.
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