NORTH MUSKEGON – The competition for the West Michigan Conference soccer championship is intense, with several teams battling hard for the crown and emotions occasionally getting the best of the players.

One of those teams, North Muskegon, is the defending champion, and the Norse are working overtime to keep their crown.

They took a step in that direction on Wednesday with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over a good Montague squad in a game that ended with heated words between some players.

Jack Injerd scored what turned out to be the winning goal early in the second half.

North Muskegon is now 6-6-2 overall but 2-0-2 in conference play. The Norse are in second place, right behind leader Shelby, a team they play this weekend.

“We have to hope for a few things that are out of our control in the conference race, but what’s on our plate is to beat Shelby, and that we can control,” said North Muskegon Coach Jeremy Tjapkes. “This win certainly gives us a fighting chance.”

The fast, physical contest was intense from the start, with both teams getting a shot on goal within the first minute. A prime scoring chance for North Muskegon was stymied with a sliding stop from Wildcat goaltender Ian Degen. Minutes later, another good Norse shot rattled off the crossbar of the Montague goal and out of play.

North Muskegon had control of the ball for much of the first half, and it paid off when Juan Quintero nailed a goal just inside the right post at the 28:09 mark to open the scoring.

Following the goal, Montague had a bit of a spark, getting two big scoring chances in the latter part of the first half. One was saved by Norse goaltender Leighton Hunt, and the other shot went just high. Later in the half the Wildcats had a header nearly go into the net, but Hunt made a leaping stop and the Norse made it to the break with a 1-0 lead.

“We came in with a plan of possessing the ball and getting into the attacking third quicker,” Tjapkes said. “We did it really well early on in the game.”

The second half started off quickly as well, with Injerd breaking free of the defense and getting a goal on a partial breakaway to make the score 2-0 North Muskegon.

Montague battled back and finally got on the scoreboard when Chris Aebig found the net, making the score 2-1.

After the Norse had their lead reduced to one goal, the teams battled back and forth, with each missing a shot just high of the net. With sic minutes to go, there was a big scramble in the box near the Montague goal, and the Norse nearly extended their lead, but the Wildcat defense was able to clear the ball and keep things close.

“I think only scoring one goal (in the first half) kind of rattled us, and then we started to force things and got off the game plan,” Tjapkes said.

With 2:25 left in the game, North Muskegon had a penalty kick, but it was saved by Montague. Some physical play followed, and as the clock ran down some players from each team got into a verbal altercation on the sideline. Coaches and officials managed to intervene before the situation got physical, but emotions were very high as the game ended with a Norse victory.

“I’m not going to name names, but there were a few things that were not addressed during the game, and that’s just what happens when things are not under control,” Tjapkes said about the heated exchange.

Hunt made four saves on five chances for North Muskegon while Degen had seven saves on nine shots.