CHEBOYGAN – The Northern Michigan Soccer League is fiercely competitive this spring.
But now the Cheboygan Chiefs need to bounce back after losing 3-0 to Ogemaw Heights on Friday night, their second league loss of the week.
Here are the takeaways from the matchup between Chiefs (6-2-0, 6-2-0 NMSL) and Falcons (6-2-1, 4-0-0).
The problem occurred again within 40 minutes.
A lackluster first half was a major problem for Chiefs as they lost 2-1 at home to Tawas on Monday.
Just like on Monday, Cheboygan allowed a goal in the opening minutes after Ogemaw's Jada Gilbert put the Falcons ahead 1-0 with just under six minutes to play. And just like on Monday, the Chiefs allowed a goal on a through ball to Hadassah Heinz just before the first half. He stole the ball and finished strong with just 27 seconds to go before intermission.
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“Ogemau is always tough on us. It's always a big match between the two of us.'' Cheboygan coach Tom Markham said, “We knew it, but we got outplayed in the first half and got outplayed.'' We got pushed around and made some mismatches, and they took advantage of that.” “I thought we played better in the second half. We had some good chances, but you can't drop two points before you step up. (Ogemau) has speed, he's physical, and he takes advantage of that. There were also players.”
signature win
Putting the finishing touch on an impressive road performance was Harper Munson, whose late goal sealed the big win for the Falcons.
It was another signature win for Ogemau coach Tom Zaske and his Falcons, who have turned things around in recent seasons and are a strong threat to win the NMSL championship this spring.
“It's always a struggle in our conference because Cheboygan has been the standard the last few years, especially for the girls team,” Zaske said. “Today's mission was just to win the game. It didn't matter how, just to prove to ourselves that we deserve to be here. We have great seniors. They’re really good leaders and they’re showing our underclassmen what it’s like to be in a good program and play hard and the success that comes with that.”
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end of a difficult week
Friday's loss was tough for the Chiefs, who have now lost two of their three games after winning their first five games. Despite the loss, Cheboygan showed improvement and created better scoring chances in the second half.
This poses a challenge for a Cheboygan team that is battling injuries and hopes to get back on track in upcoming games.
“We're hurt and we're beat up. We want to get Taylor (Bent) by the end of the season and we're still young,” Markham said. “We have a lot of sophomores. We have freshmen that we really rely on. In a close game, a hard-fought game, the only thing you can control is staying out of shape, but unfortunately for half of the first half, That happened.
“We just have to learn from our mistakes and keep moving forward. There's still a lot of football season left.”
Cheboygan will host Houghton Lake on Tuesday, April 30th.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf.jgreenleaf@gannett.com.Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter@Sports CDT