A disappointing 6-2 loss to Brandon and a 1-1 tie against Lapeer West finished off the week for Oxford soccer, as it heads into its final week of regular season play.
On May 19, the Wildcats traveled to Brandon to take on the Blackhawks in what would be the two teams? second meeting of the season. Although the Cats lost the game by a 6-2 final, the team was without three of its starters: sophomore Gena Nelson, junior Jolene Patterson and senior Sam Marshall were all absent due to a mandatory band concert that evening.
The Wildcats, forced to play with a short bench, had to come up with an alternate solution to avoid losing, but in the end the strategy was not enough. The bright spot for Oxford during the night was junior Otiela Theobald’s beautiful goal midway through the first half. Theobald, who is used to playing all over the field, received an outstanding cross pass from teammate Chealsey MacIntosh and headed the ball into a yawning net for her first goal of the season.
Coach Cerato’s ‘players of the game? against Brandon were midfielder Kehley Hicks and defender Courtney Vassal.
Despite missing a few of their key players, the loss was still upsetting to the team, who expected better against the Blackhawks.
‘We are every bit as good, if not better than Brandon,? said Cerato, whose sentiment was echoed by her team.
On May 21, the Cats were forced to shake off the Brandon loss and focus on the task at hand, faring much better against the Panthers despite again missing three regulars. Goalkeeper Nicole Carter was out of the lineup due to back problems, and the team called up JV goalkeeper Kelly Henry, the younger sister of Varsity Soccer star Jim Henry, to play goal against Lapeer West. In her first Varsity game, Henry performed admirably, backstopping her team to a 1-1 tie.
‘It’s a good thing we had Kelly to fall back on in goal,? said Coach Cerato after the game.
The Wildcats were also missing junior Anneliese McKeown, who had a hip injury, and Otiela Theobald, who was out with the flu. Still, the Wildcats managed the tie against West.
The field conditions for the game against West were horrible, according to Cerato, who claimed that her team ‘looked as though they had taken mud baths,? after the game was over. Standing puddles of water on the field sometimes caused the ball to stop dead, making it very difficult for either team to generate much momentum.
However, midway through the second half, Oxford’s star freshman Sam Bono netted yet another goal to put Oxford up by one, before Lapeer West tied the game with under two minutes left to force the tie, Oxford’s second of the season.
The team is now entering its last week of regular season play, with games scheduled against Linden and Holly to finish off the season before the district playoffs commence.
Mike Stechschulte is a junior at Oxford High School who plans to major in the field of journalism.