Coldwater soccer falls to Parma Western in battle for I-8 championship
COLDWATER, MI. — As far as regular season games go, well it doesn’t get much bigger than this one.
Tuesday night the Coldwater Cardinal varsity soccer team played host to the Parma Western Panthers in a game with massive implications as the winner would take home the outright Interstate 8 conference championship. With both teams coming into the contest unbeaten in the conference, the victor would claim the crown.
Coldwater’s bid for a possible second straight Interstate 8 title came up just a bit short however as it was Parma Western taking the win, defeating Coldwater by the score of 3-0.
The game remained scoreless for a good portion of the first half, with neither team able to break through offensively. The Panthers struck first, getting on the board with a goal at the 13:13 mark on a break away goal, giving Parma Western the quick 1-0 lead.
Parma Western would add to their lead just before the half, scoring on a long range shot with 1:55 left in the half, finding the halftime score of 2-0.
Coldwater fought desperately to get back into the contest in the second half however the Panthers added one more insurance goal, finding the back of the net at the 29:12 mark, giving Parma Western the 3-0 lead and eventually the win.
Coldwater could not seem to break through on the Parma Western goal keeper, out shooting the Panthers 13-11 but coming out with no goals in the game.
Franky Ramos made five saves in goal for the Cardinal defensive effort.
With the loss Coldwater finishes off the conference portion of their 2022 schedule, ending the conference run with a record of 5-1-1 and 8-6-3 overall. The Cardinals will finish out their regular season schedule on Saturday when they travel to Mattawan. Coldwater will kick off their MHSAA postseason on Oct. 14 as they host the first round of Districts, playing host to the Vicksburg Bulldogs.
With the victory the DII eighth ranked Parma Western Panthers claimed the Interstate 8 Conference Crown outright with one game remaining on their conference docket.
In Junior Varsity action the Coldwater JV Cardinals rolled past Parma Western, winning by the score of 8-0 in a game that ended early due to the MHSAA mandated mercy rule.
Scoring for Coldwater were Liam Clark and Mohsen Ahmed with two goals each while Niko Downs, Samuel Pernia, Hassan Hajaji and Rashed Ahmed all added one goal.
Hunter Barnett and Umari Umari split time in goal for the shut out win.
The Coldwater JV Cardinals will finish out their 2022 season on Saturday when they travel to Mattawan.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater soccer falls to Parma Western in battle for I-8 championship
