With new yellow shoes to match their soccer jerseys, the Clarkston Wolves raced out to an early lead and never looked back in a 2-0 win at Detroit Catholic Central Aug. 22.
Wolves keeper Scott Messer preserved the shutout, stopping Josh Gatt’s penalty kick with eight minutes remaining in the game. Messer made eight saves for his second win of the season.
?(Messer’s) save was incredible. Anytime you let a team back in the game 2-1, anything can happen. Messer is a fantastic goalie and has great instincts. That (save) really was big momentum boost for us,? Clarkston coach Adam Bican said.
The miss was a sign of the Shamrocks? (0-1) night. They couldn’t get anything started on offense, after out-shooting the Wolves (2-0) in the first half. Clarkston took over time of possession in the second half, leaving DCC sputtering.
The Wolves took a 1-0 lead when Kevin Pinkos scored off Kavon Khani’s free kick with 26:08 left in the first half.
The Shamrocks did their best to keep offensive force Oliver Kupe with double and triple coverage when he touched the ball, but Kupe was still able to influence the play even without possession. Pinkos made a no-look pass to Brandon Verlinden while looking as if he were passing to Kupe, drawing the Shamrocks? attention. Verlinden put home the Wolves? second goal with 18:00 minutes left in the first half.
‘Catholic Central is a well-coached team, they’re extremely physical and the longer you leave teams in the game, the more hope you give them,? Bican said.
Bican would have liked to see the Wolves capitalize more offensively.
‘Two goals in the first half and none in the second half is not really acceptable. We need to put together a better second half. We did a good job of possession in the second half, but it’s still nice to capitalize and score.?
The quick start to the season plagued the Shamrocks, who ‘hit the wall physically,? DCC coach Joe Nora said.
‘We made a couple foolish mistakes in the first half and the one thing Clarkston does well is finish. They were right on the end of them and they made us pay,? Nora said. ‘We played hard and proved we can hang with the tougher teams.?
The Wolves defeated Holly at Karl Richter field Aug. 21, 4-1, in their season opener.
‘The boys worked the ball very well and played extremely hard and came out with a victory, it was really nice,? Bican said.
The boys host rival Lake Orion Thursday at Clarkston Stadium at 7 p.m. The Wolves host Troy Athens Sept. 4, also at 7 p.m.