The Soo High Blue Devil Varsity Soccer team kicked off their season traveling down to Kinglsey on August 20th. Through a back-and-forth game Kingsley defeated the Soo by a score of 3-2. Scoring chances were shared equally between the teams. “Unfortunately, we hit 2 crossbars” Soo Coach Alan MacArthur said. “We had their goalkeeper beat on those 2 chances, but the bounces didn’t go our way” Cameron Gagnon scored both goals for the Soo while Ethan Clark was in the net.
On August 22 the Soo hosted their first home game of the season against Big Bay De Noc. “Big Bay is almost as young as our team so this should be a good game for our new players to get experience” the Soo coach stated. The Soo was able outwork Big Bay for most of the game and were able to get several good scoring chances throughout most of the game. MacArthur added “It was nice to get a win and I know how Big Bay feels, we are going through the same growing pains with all the new players we have this year. We know we need to get better in all aspects to be able to compete with the more seasoned teams we will face this year”.
The Soo traveled to Gaylord to take on the Gaylord Blue Devils on August 24th. The Soo was missing several key players as SAT testing was taking place back in the Soo. The Soo held their own during the first half but found themselves trailing 4-0 at the half. Soo High Coach Alan MacArthur stated, “there were 2 goals in that first half that were totally preventable, but the pressure Gaylord put on us earned them those goals”. The Soo was never really able to mount a consistent attack against Gaylord and the few opportunities the Soo did get they weren’t able to capitalize on. Final score was 7-0 for Gaylord. The Soo switched goal keepers (Ethan Clark and Aiden Burtt) throughout the game and even in the loss they both made some key saves. “I tried to get the start of the game pushed back a couple of hours a few weeks ago knowing that we were going to be lacking a lot of experience with the players that were testing and not able to make the trip. We basically fielded a team with mostly 1st and 2nd year players. It was a tough loss, but a good experience for the young players”, MacArthur said.
On August 26 the Soo found themselves traveling to the lower peninsula again to face Cadillac. It was over 82 degrees when we left the Soo and 94 degrees we arrived in Cadillac. The soccer field was registering 103.3 degrees at playing time. Soo Coach stated “I think the heat got to the boys pretty quickly. The bus averaged 85 degrees the whole way down here and there was some red faces before we even started the game. Even though we kept pushing the players to stay hydrated we just didn’t have the energy to keep up with Cadillac”. The Soo did have some chances and were competitive for the first half, but Cadillac put too much pressure on the Soo and won the game by a score of 7-0.
The Soo will host Marguette at 5:30 at AJ VanCitters field on August 28th
- Sault High Soccer Lose in Season Opener - August 29, 2024
