News photo by Owen Kinsey Laurel Alberts, 18, struggles to steal the ball from an opponent during Tuesday's game against Petoskey in Alpena. The Wildcats lost to the Norseman 3-1.
ALPENA — Despite an undefeated weekend in the Sunrise Side Challenge Cup, the Alpena High School girls soccer team (6-5-1, 0-5 BNC) returns to conference play Tuesday against undefeated Petoskey. Did.
The winning streak stopped at four as the Norseman put pressure on the Wildcats and lost 3-1.
Petoskey was successful by constantly shooting towards Alpena's goal and limiting the Wildcats' shooting chances on offense.
“Petoskey is a great team that is currently undefeated, so we knew this team was going to be tough,” Alpena coach Greg Spillan said. “Our game plan was to keep it close and take advantage of our chances. We had some success at times, but we just fell short in that regard. But a little thing held us back (yesterday). I think I pulled it, so I need to improve going forward.”
It was clear in the early going that Petoskey was always in the right position at the right time and had the upper hand.
News photo by Owen Kinzey Faith Dragiewicz chases the ball during an AHS soccer game Tuesday in Alpena. The Wildcats played against the Petoskey Northmen, who he ultimately lost 3-1.
When Alpena's strikers were in position to take advantage of a pass, Petoskey always seemed to be there, waiting for the ball to spill.
The Wildcats' first shot attempt on goal came seven minutes into the game.
Faith Dragewicz narrowly missed, but the extra pressure later proved costly.
Four minutes later, at 29:12, Anika Gandhi hit the net with an open shot and the Northmen hit the scoreboard first.
Petoskey took an early lead and extended it as the clock hit 22 minutes, 12 seconds.
News photo by Owen Kinsey The Alpena Wildcats shook hands with opponent Petoskey Norseman in Alpena after a football game Tuesday. AHS lost 3-1.
This time Lilian Premo slipped the ball into the right corner of the goal, and Alpena's goalkeeper dove to his left to do the damage.
A long time passed before a little pressure from Draghiwicz and the Wildcats paid off.
Dragiewicz shot the ball from the left corner and as the ball went over the net, Reese Wisniewski cleaned up the rebound and scored.
Alpena narrowed the lead to 2-1 and entered the first half with momentum.
After half-time, possession changed endlessly and both teams began to attack.
News Photo by Owen Kinsey Laurel Alberts makes a kick during Tuesday's game against Petoskey in Alpena. The Wildcats lost to the Norseman 3-1.
Each team struggled to find offensive success, with neither team getting any scoring opportunities until Petoskey put the nail in the Wildcats' coffin.
Gansey and Northman found glaring faults in Alpena's defense and on-field efforts.
Gandhi dribbled the ball into the defensive line, but none of his defenders rushed towards it, allowing a wide-open shot just before the goal.
Gansey made the most of this opportunity and easily took a shot to take a 3-1 lead.
This complete defensive failure showed obvious signs of fatigue on Alpena and ultimately led to neither team scoring for the remainder of the match.
News photo by Owen Kinzey Faith Dragiewicz chases the ball during an AHS soccer game Tuesday in Alpena. The Wildcats played against the Petoskey Northmen, who he ultimately lost 3-1.
The final score ended at 3-1 as Petoskey remains undefeated and Alpena remains winless in the Big North Conference.
“If you move well off the ball and pass well, you'll be successful,” Spillane said. “We saw it once tonight, but we just need to be more consistent with our accuracy and that could be dangerous. Next up is Gaylord, but we know it's a winnable match.” I will give my all, and if I have a chance to win, I will do my best.”
Alpena heads to Gaylord on Thursday.
