Prep Boys Soccer

Trout Lake played patient soccer and controlled the tempo of the contest through the midfield, holding its own against a potent Sunnyside Christian attack.

The Mustangs (0-4 in GCB, 3-6-1 overall) surprised the Knights (3-0, 9-0) by taking a 1-0 lead in the first minute, with an aggressive opening foray.

"On the opening kick we put the ball out to our outside midfielder, Dannon Kavanagh, and he immediately attacked the goal," Mustangs Coach Doug Dearden said. "With only one person to beat he was taken down in the penalty area and we were awarded a penalty kick within the first minute of play."

Leading scorer Mikael Dick stepped up to the penalty spot for the Mustangs and knocked in his 12th goal of the season and "Trout Lake suddenly was leading the highly rated Knights," Dearden added.

Trout Lake held on to its one-goal edge for another 34 minutes, until Sunnyside Christian's Hessel Veldhuis took a cross from Michael DeGroot and volleyed it into the goal.

The score remained deadlocked until midway through the second half. The Knights undid the tie in the 58th minute "on a corner kick that was not touched by a Sunnyside player but inadvertently put in by an attempted Trout Lake clear," Dearden said.

But there was still a lot of soccer to be played and Trout Lake continued to threaten. In the last 10 minutes, Kavanagh missed on a breakaway and Chaz Johnson and Anna Schmid both had shots got wide on opportunities with the goalie out of the box.

"It was a great opportunity for us to upset the Knights, who came in having already beaten some of the top teams in the state," Dearden noted. "Sometimes when we get these teams up here in the mountains, with cold and wet conditions, we can make things happen. Our kids came ready to play. Unfortunately, we did not get the breaks in the end game."

Standout players for Trout Lake, which was outshot 20-10, included keeper Kris Wood with eight saves, sweeper Kristian Rubesh with 10 clears and midfielder Morgan Smith, who marked and held SC's top playmaker, Joel Koopmans, scoreless and without an assist.