MUSKEGON TWP. – It’s been a while since the Fruitport girl soccer team was faced with a little adversity.
It was way back at the beginning of the season, when the Trojans started with three losses in four games, before ripping off eight straight victories.
But the past week provided a new challenge for the Trojans, who experienced two losses in three games.
The latest came on Saturday when Fruitport fell 3-1 to Reeths-Puffer on the road in a non-conference battle.
Fruitport is a talented but pretty inexperienced team, and a few losses from time to time is part of the growth process, according to head coach Kyle Hall.
[1]“If it’s going to happen, now is the time for it to happen,” said Hall, whose team also lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Fremont on Wednesday “It’s not always a bad thing to have a little humble pie. We will learn from this and tighten things up and be ready for conference and district play.
“We have five freshmen in the starting lineup, along with a sophomore, but we will roll the dice against anybody on any given day.”
The first half of the game was scoreless, with each team managing two shots on goal.
The second half was all Reeths-Puffer, however.
R-P’s Abby Hill broke the deadlock with a goal not quite two minutes into the half. She took a crossing pass and had the ball to the right of the Fruitport goal, whiffed on her first shot, but got another chance and buried the shot.
[2]The Rocket uprising continued about seven minutes later when Jaslynn Kops got the ball about 15 yards from the Trojan goal and lofted a high shot over the head of the goalie and into the net.
R-P made it 3-0 about a minute later when Mallorie Messer broke in alone and scored.
Fruitport kept battling and got on the scoreboard with about 16 minutes left when Ava Vanveelen found the net.
The Trojans had a few more chances in the waning minutes, but could not get any closer.
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Reeths-Puffer had an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal, including a 6-3 edge in the second half.
Fruitport, now 10-4 on the season, will open O-K Silver conference tournament play on Monday at home against Kelloggsville, a team the Trojans beat 8-0 on Thursday.
The Trojans won the regular part of the conference season with a 7-0 record, and a good tournament run would bring them an O-K Silver championship.
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