Ocelots downed by Hawks
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#7 Northeast Community College (1-0-0, 1-0-0) | 2 | 3 | 5 |
|
Schoolcraft College (0-1-0, 0-1-0) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Livonia, MI- The 2023 Men's soccer season kicked off yesterday as the Ocelots played host to Northeast Community College. It was an early season top twenty matchup as the Ocelots came in ranked #17 and Northeast came in ranked #7.
The first half saw Northeast come out swinging early as they had plenty of early chances. However, goalkeeper #30 Vedad Vila kicked aside some early chances to keep the Hawks off the scoreboard. In the 30th minute, Schoolcraft would be on the receiving end of a red card and would be forced to play with ten me. With the Ocelots having weathered the storm and playing down a man, it would be Schoolcraft who would strike first as Northwood transfer #17 Tommy Mittelstadt would get one past the keeper with help from #18 Gavin Lemere and #11 Gavin Brose. Northeast would tack on two goals, one being a Schoolcraft own goal, to close out the half and take the 2-1 lead at half.
The Ocelots came out of halftime ready to go and knotted the game up at two a piece quickly as #12 Kellen Larson would score the first of his career only two minutes into the second half. Mittelstadt and Lemere would add assists on the Larson goal. Things would stay quiet on the scoring sheet for a stretch, but the cards would come out often on the Ocelots. Schoolcraft would be shown four yellow cards before Northeast would get a goal that just dribbled in during the 72nd minute. #19 Diego Ayala would receive his second yellow card of the game and be sent off in the 83rd minute forcing the Ocelots down to nine men. Ultimately, the Ocelots would fall 5-2 due to some late goals.
Schoolcraft would register four total shots on goal, two from Mittelstadt, one from Larson and one from #11 Gavin Brose. Northeast only saw three cards shown to them compared to the seven cards for the Ocelots. The first-year keeper Vedad Vila would stop six total Northeast shots while seeing twelve total shots.
Schoolcraft returns to the pitch to play host to a conference foe in Muskegon Community College. Kick-off is slated for 3:00pm on 8/18 at the Ocelot Soccer Complex.