The Wayland girls’ soccer team finished its first round in O-K Gold Conference dual matches Monday with a 3-1 victory at East Grand Rapids.
The game, originally scheduled to be played at home, was moved to East Grand Rapids because of poor field conditions at home.
Wayland dominated the first few minutes of the game and was able to take the lead early when Ashlyn Schafer found Amanda Brown unmarked in the midfield before she blasted a shot into the upper side netting. Not long afterward, the Lady Wildcats had a goal disallowed for a foul in the box.
“They didn’t let that stop them though as they continued to apply pressure to the Pioneer defense,” said coach Ben Sleeman, “and finally broke through at the 16:33 mark as a corner kick resulted in Amanda Brown playing a nice pass to freshman, Kennedy Thelen, who scored a beautiful curling shot to double the lead for her team, her first goal of the season.”
Despite a number of good chances, the score remained at 2-0 in favor of the Wildcats at intermission.
The second half played out much the same as the first with the Pioneer defense and keeper playing tough and keeping the Wildcats from finding the back of the net. After a foul, the Pioneers got a goal back as the resulting free kick was placed perfectly and beat keeper Rachel Wienclaw, making the score 2-1.
Wayland answered quickly with a goal of its own to seal the win as Mckenna Bruin served a nice cross into the box that Brinley Nieuwenhuis was able to calmly redirect into the net.
Rachel Wienclaw made sevensaves in the win.
The Lady Wildcats are now 5-3 overall (4-2 OK Gold) and will be host Grand Rapids Christian on Wednesday as they begin their second time through league play.
