Wyoming, MI - Saturday's match provided an opportunity to face Maranatha for the second time this season, with the first not going the Tiger's way. Grace suffered defeat in the previous match even though they had out shot the Sabercats 16-6 and held the edge in corners but came up short 0-1 last weekend. The Tiger's would make good on this opportunity with a 3-0 win where they lead in nearly every statistical category including shots, 24 to 8 and corners, 12 to 2.
"The difference in this match from the last one came down to finishing and having that intensity to do so. Our previous match was a poor performance and credit to Coach Pill and MBU for making it very difficult on us. We created a number of chances in the last match, but games can go that way if you do not convert your chances, which we experienced. We knew we needed to be more clinical and start converting the multitude of chances we were creating. The boys did that today. We also played with a lot of composure at the backline with some great play from
Mason Harth (Freshman Dorr, MI)
Jonathan Casey (Grad, Trinidad & Tobago)
Logan Erickson (JR, Farmington Hills, MI) and
Evan Snyder (FR, Wixom, MI). I am really proud of the maturity of their play," stated Coach Buchanan.
Grace started the match right from the whistle putting pressure on and creating chances. The goal would have to wait until virtually the last kick of the first half when
Nathan Davis played a ball into
Paul Ureel who finished it to give the Tiger's the 1-0 lead going into half. The momentum from the goal carried into the second half where immediately the Tiger's had 2 shots in the first minute and half giving warning signs to the Sabercats. The goals would come quickly after Nate Davis again provided the assist to
Caden Petroelje (Holland Christian) who made it 2-0 just after 5 minutes into the 2nd. Grace kept the chances coming and scored a third two minutes later with Ureel getting his second of the match, making it a hat trick of assists from Davis to make it 3-0. The match would play out with more of the same with the Tigers nearly adding to the scoreline, but failed to convert any of their other well created chances including a missed penalty kick. All but 1 available Tiger featured in the match versus Maranatha.
The Tigers now stand 6-4-1 on the season and will head to Lansing, MI on Wednesday for their next match against Great Lakes Christian College.
