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Grand Rapids 1, Chisago Lakes 0

A somewhat strange goal in the second half of the season opener proved to be the difference as the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks beat the Wildcat boys' soccer team 1-0 last Thursday, August 26 at Grand Rapids. "They were a pretty strong team and they came out real strong," said Wildcat head coach Mark Leigh. "They were athletic, aggressive, and well coached."

In the first half, Wildcat goalkeeper Kyle Buchanan knocked away a Thunderhawk shot from 30 yards out that appeared destined for the upper corner of the net. He made a number of other nice saves on close-in shots to help keep the game scoreless. "Late in the first half," said Leigh, "our guys realized they needed to step up their play. The defense tightened up and we started to even out the play. Also, it was a pretty warm day and Grand Rapids started to wear down a little."

During the second half, a Thunderhawk player launched a pop fly from somewhere near the middle of the field. Buchanan realized it could be trouble, backed into the goal mouth and leaped to try to knock it away. He got his fingertips on it and the ball deflected upward, hit the crossbar and bounced into the penalty area. Buchanan fell to the ground. A Grand Rapids player swooped in and tapped the loose ball into the net for the only goal of the game.

"We didn't have a serious scoring chance in this one," said Leigh. "We had no corner kicks and the one good shot we did get was ruled offside. We have to figure out who is going to do the scoring for this team. Buchanan and the defense held us in there and kept the game close for as long as they could."

Chisago Lakes 2, Duluth Central 1

Senior Matt Stamos scored both goals as the Wildcats picked up their first win of the season, beating the Duluth Central Trojans 2-1 last Friday, September 27 at Duluth.

Seven minutes into the first half, Ben Bratrud played a ball through to fellow hockey player Stamos. Stamos' hard shot went past the keeper into the net to give the Wildcats their first goal of the year and a 1-0 lead.

In the 13th minute, Wildcat goalkeeper Kyle Buchanan injured his ankle and had to leave the game. With backup keeper Lucas Schmidt playing in the JV game, Wildcat head coach Mark Leigh turned to Josh Magnuson to replace Buchanan. "Josh played some keeper this summer," said Leigh, "so I had confidence he would do a good job for us. We outplayed them in the first half, and when we went into halftime up 1-0, I was confident we were going to win the game.

But at the 47th minute (seven minutes into the second half), a Trojan player found himself wide open 30 yards from the Wildcat goal. He launched a shot toward the center of the penalty area. It hit somebody out front and snuck inside the upper right corner to tie the game at 1-1.

Order was restored just two minutes later. Magnuson launched a goal kick down the field. Joe Rau trapped it and flicked it toward the Trojan net. Stamos ran through, tracked the ball down and put it into the upper corner to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead that they never relinquished.

"Matt Stamos is proving to be quite a player," said Leigh. "He has the hustle and skill to make things happen. Players like Matt and Ben Bratrud haven't played a lot of soccer, but they have been able to use their athletic ability and translate it effectively to the soccer field."

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