East Kentwood Soccer: EK in the News: 2009 Women - East Kentwood girls beat FH Central in soccer battle
2009 Women - East Kentwood girls beat FH Central in soccer battle,
GRAND RAPIDS -- According to East Kentwood girls soccer coach John Conlon, Forest Hills Central is the toughest place to play in all of Michigan.Conlon and the Falcons visited the Rangers' turf Monday night and emerged with a hard-fought 2-1 victory against the reigning Division 2 state champions.
A high shot by East Kentwood's Casey McMillan, on an assist from Ellerie Ambrose, with 7:39 left was the difference in the nonleague game at Rangers Stadium.
"This is the toughest place to play in the state," said Conlon, whose Falcons are 3-0-1, with a tie against Grand Rapids Christian. "They always have good teams here, they're well coached and this is a fast surface."
Attacking into the sun in the first half, East Kentwood opened the scoring a little more than 8 minutes into the game when FHC goalkeeper Courtney McCoy appeared to have cleared a free kick by East Kentwood's Morgann Wood, but the ball bounded directly to Mecca Means, who found the net.
With 5:59 remaining in the first half, Forest Hills Central (1-2) tied the game when senior Katie Saxe beat Falcons goalkeeper Kara Scaturro following a corner kick by the Rangers' Tori Keller.
"For about 40 minutes, we chased the ball around too much," Conlon said. "We allowed them to possess the ball too much. There is a level of intimidation when you play the defending state champions, but I told the girls that if they give them too much respect, they will take advantage of you.
"Forest Hills Central is one of the best teams we will face this year," Conlon said. "We are happy for the win, but we have to temper it because we might see them again in districts."
The Division 1 district tournament at Portage Northern will feature three teams that advanced to the state semifinals last year.
Forest Hills Central and Portage Northern, which were Division 2 last year, have moved up to Division 1 and are in the same district as Portage Central, which played in last year's Division 1 semifinals. Conlon called it "the district of death."
The Falcons and Rangers each had six shots on goal.
"That first goal was a free kick from the top of the box and we cleared it, but it bounced the wrong way, right into the back of the net," FHC coach Jeremy Stacy said. "There's not a lot you can do about that.
"On the second goal, we made a poor pass out of transition, and they capitalized on it. I felt like we carried the play for the most part and the girls played hard and played well."