ONE GOAL ENOUGH
Richmond shuts out Armada, ties for BWAC soccer lead
It’s a new soccer race in the Blue Water Area Conference.
Alyssa Sweeney scored in the first half and Kaylee Backers stopped every shot Armada sent her way to lead Richmond to a 1-0 victory that created a tie for first place Wednesday.
Liz Kocher played the ball into the box and Sweeney converted the scoring opportunity with 31:03 left in the first half as the Blue Devils lifted their record to 8-1-1 — the same as Armada’s after the teams’ first meeting of the season.
“We had to beat them to have a chance to win the championship,” said Backers, a freshman.
“All we did was even the playing field,” Richmond coach Steve Schuster added.
Backers was especially busy in the second half. The Tigers had five chances, including one from point-blank range, in a seven-minute stretch.
“It was pretty stressful,” Backers said.
An Armada shot went over the crossbar with 8:39 left, less than a minute after Backers stopped a shot from in the box. Later, the keeper who is one of four ninth-graders in the Blue Devils’ lineup, caught a corner kick in the air, and with about six minutes to play she fielded a ball that rolled to the goal.
“It was a good game. I thought we controlled a lot of it today. I was happy with the way the girls played. We gave up one goal, and it cost us,” Tigers coach Neal Todd said. “That’s soccer sometimes.” The teams play a night game at Richmond on May 20 — one of four BWAC matches each has left.
That will be Armada’s third conference game that week.
In addition to Armada, Richmond plays Algonac, North Branch and Yale to finish the league season. The Tigers play Croswell-Lexington, Almont and Imlay City
“It will be interesting,” Todd said.