MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP – Before the season began, Reeths-Puffer soccer coach Kody Harrell predicted that offense would be the strength of his team.

It certainly was in the first game, when the Rockets scored eight goals, but dissipated last Friday when the Rockets scored only one goal in a loss.

That mini scoring slump continued for most of Monday’s game, when the Rockets went without a goal for most of the contest.

Luckily junior Nick Clemens provided R-P with all the offense it needed with only 9:15 left on the clock.

Clemens got the ball in a crowd just inside the Hudsonville goal box, saw an open lane and ripped a shot that beat the Eagles’ goalie.

The Rockets added one more tally about three minutes later and walked away with a big 2-0 victory over Hudsonville in their first home contest of the season, played in the muggy heat.

“I saw the ball come to me and I saw exactly what I was going to do with it,” Clemens said. “I saw the gap in the defenders, touched it in front of me and just striked it.

“It was exciting, especially coming in the last 10 minutes of the game in a close one.”

The Rockets improved to 2-1 on the season, and more importantly erased the memory of Friday’s loss to powerful Forest Hills Northern, when the score was 2-1 late in the game before the Huskies pounced for four late goals.

“To have that kind of collapse in the last few minutes, let the guys clear their minds over the weekend, then come back and get a win against a very good team was nice,” Coach Harrell said.

Both teams played strong defense throughout the game, limiting their opponents’ scoring opportunities.

R-P was particularly listless in the first half, only managing two shots on goal, compared to Hudsonville’s four.

Most of the second half was even quieter, with neither team managing a shot on goal in the first 30 minutes.

But the first part of the second half was important, according to Harrell, because he inserted several junior varsity players into the lineup to keep his starters fresh in the heat.

That paid off later in the second half when the Rockets started putting some pressure on the Hudsonville net.

“Some sophomore came in and gave us extra legs in the second half and made a huge difference,” Harrell said. “We also started playing to the feet more, with shorter passes and working off each other.”

R-P’s first great scoring chance came with 11:20 left in the game when Zac Sampson had a clear shot from close range that was stopped by the goalie.

Clemens finally broke through with his goal just over two minutes later, giving Reeths-Puffer a huge edge late in the game.

R-P’s Aiden McCollum set up the final goal when he hit wide open Liam Smith with a pass to the right of the Hudsonville goal and the senior put it away, giving the Rockets their final advantage.

Rocket goalie Gage Hopkins stopped five shots to collect the shutout.