by Ben Murphy
Sports Writer
The Clare soccer team took on a quality squad from Newaygo at home on Monday. The Pioneers were able to pick up the win, in what was their final regular season contest of the year, by a score of 2-0.
“That was a good tune up for districts,” head coach Jim Bond said. “They were a good team and different than other teams we have played, so it was good for us.”
The game was scoreless at the half, but the Pioneers were able to get their first tally early in the second thanks to Jaxson Bryant bouncing one over the goalie.
Clare made it 2-0 thanks to a well played set piece. Liam Corp booted a well-placed corner kick, which Keagan Hill was able to rise above the defense to head the ball in.
“It was a pretty goal, our best execution on a corner all season,” Bond said. “It was a nice one.”
Josh Zeilinger was in goal and made five saves to get the shutout.
On Saturday, Clare won a Northern Michigan Soccer League game at Shepherd, 3-0. It was the second time in less than a week the Pioneers played Shepherd, and they were able to win both contests by the same score.
“We played two of our better games against Shepherd,” Bond said. “They are not a bad team either, we just happened to play well both games and we are happy we got the wins.
Clare led 1-0 at the half, and sent home two more in the second.
Brogan Russel, Ethan Cook and Daniel Stevens all scored and Zeilinger made six saves in net to help get the win.
On Wednesday, Oct. 5 Clare had a lopsided 8-0 home NMSL win over Big Rapids Crossroads Academy.
Brady Emery had three goals, with Duncan Lowe, Russel, Paisley, Charlie Jenkins and Bryant all had goals. Paisley, Jace Burhans and Keagan Hill had assists in the game and Zeilinger was in goal.
Clare (10-3-4 overall) hosts a Division 3 district semi-final on Monday, against the winner of Reed City and Howard City Tri County. Alma, Big Rapids and Shepherd are all in the district as well, with the championship taking place on Thursday in Alma.
“We are in a different district, Alma is the class of the district, not that that we are overlooking that game,” Bond said. “We feel fairly confident, but if we do get past (the first game), Alma is tough. We play solid defense and we have all year and we have a shot against them, btu they will definitely be the best team we have played all year.”