Petoskey soccer exits season in regional semi round against East Grand Rapids
CEDAR SPRINGS — Chances for goals beyond the district round of the soccer postseason come few and far between.
Any chances you do get, need to be fully taken advantage of.
Meeting East Grand Rapids in another rain soaked game in a Cedar Springs hosted Division 2 regional semifinal Tuesday, Petoskey brought the fight to the Pioneers right from the opening whistle.
Multiple chances were created by the Northmen inside the first 20 minutes of the game, though nothing came out of it. EGR then settled in and created their own, which they capitalized on in an eventual 2-0 victory.
“We looked really strong in the opening 20 minutes in a downpour,” Petoskey coach Zach Jonker said. “We were able to press them into mistakes, create a lot of possession and generate a couple of dangerous chances, both in the run of play and on re-starts.
“I think our pace, energy and technical ability caught them by surprise a bit. They slowly started to settle into the game and get more of the ball and chances.”
The loss for the Northmen concludes another successful season that ended in regionals for a third straight year and came with a 16-8-1 record. Of their eight losses, four came against tough Division 1 foes.
East Grand Rapids moves onto a Division 2 regional final against Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern on Thursday. Northern earned a 3-0 win over Muskegon Reeths-Puffer in the opening game of the night in Cedar Springs.
Jonker knew heading in that the Pioneers would be a big test and regional bracket overall was one of the toughest in the state.
“EGR was a top five team all season and we gave them all they could handle,” said Jonker. “There are only eight teams left in D2 and we beat one of them 1-0 (Riverview) and lost tight contests after long road trips to DeWitt and tonight. We are always drawn into the toughest region in the state. There is no doubt we had a top 10 team.”
Early against the Pioneers Tuesday, both Noah Bodurka and Sawyer Webster had some close calls for the Northmen, which included a Webster free kick on a rope to the Pioneers' goal.
EGR picked up their first goal from Peter Cannon with just under 20 minutes left in the first half, with the 1-0 lead eventually sending the teams to halftime as well.
In the second half, EGR got back on the board thanks to an opportunity created by Cannon, with a scramble ensuing in front of the Northmen goal. A pair of saves were made by Northmen keeper Jackson Jonker, though a third shot from Colin Davies of EGR found the back of the goal to make it 2-0.
Petoskey’s best chance to answer came with under five minutes to play on a Bodurka header that hit the crossbar, but that was as close as Petoskey came.
“Outside of that chance in the second half, EGR definitely applied more pressure than us,” said Jonker. “We did create a number of set piece opportunities in the second half, but our execution wasn't as precise as it needed to be.”
It’s a tough way to go out for a team that’s put in back to back seasons of over 15 wins against some of the state’s best, though it’s also a group that Jonker immensely proud of.
“We will really miss this senior group,” he said. “They went out in the regional finals last season to the eventual state champion Grand Rapids Christian and lost to another title contender tonight. They represented the school and community with class and dignity at all times and competed until the bitter end tonight.
“Our juniors made significant contributions all over the field all season and are way ahead of schedule. We will return a ton of talent next fall and I'm sure those guys will be hungry to keep compounding the success of the past few years.”
From the start of the season, when goals were tough to come by and the competition was brutal, to picking up the No. 1 seed and home field advantage in the district and finishing second in the Big North Conference, Jonker wants more than the final game on the mind of his guys Tuesday night and beyond.
“If all the focus is on a state championship, and the season is only judged as a success if you win your last game, you are going to be pretty miserable most of the time,” he added. “It's about the journey and this group showed massive improvement from when we first started getting together all the way back in late June and had a wildly successful season.”
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey soccer exits season in regional semi round against East Grand Rapids
