Traverse City West offense proves too much for Alpena girls soccer team | Information, Sports activities, Jobs

By Stone Andrews Last updated May 4, 2022

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena’s Anna Woods (17) attempts to push the ball past a Traverse City West defender during the first half of a girls soccer game on Tuesday at Park Family Field at Wildcat Stadium.

ALPENA — The Alpena High School girls soccer team couldn’t withstand Traverse City West’s ruthless offense on Tuesday, losing 3-0.

The loss pushes the Wildcats’ record to 4-4.

Although the Wildcats struggled to score, they played tough until the end.

“The girls fought hard, we won a lot of the little battles that we have been working on in practice and I thought overall they played very well,” Alpena coach Gregg Supiran said.

Traverse City West kicked off the game with a goal from forward Audrey Wolf within the first four minutes of the game. This goal was granted to Traverse City West from a penalty kick that was converted to give the Titans a 1-0 lead.

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena’s Megan Dubie (6) tries to dribble past a Traverse City West defender during the first half of a girls soccer game on Tuesday at Park Family Field at Wildcat Stadium.

Shortly after that, the Titans struck again, pushing the score to 2-0.

After the second goal, Alpena started to compete and hold its ground against the forceful West offense. This continued until 13 minutes remained in the second half when the Titans pounded their third goal into the net.

Despite the loss, Alpena’s defense held its own by preventing as many shots as possible and playing as a team. Eve Dragiewicz helped prevent several goals and led the Wildcats defensively. Isabelle Kocan also played outstanding defense as well, saving a handful of goals down the stretch.

“The backline has played really great. They are playing up against a lot of fast forwards and they seem to handle that pressure really well. Tonight they made a few minor mistakes but they cleaned it up nicely throughout the game,” Supiran said.

The Wildcats struggled on offense, only forcing two shots on goal the entire game. One of the shots was by Kami Schultz after just narrowly missing from the corner.

With the loss, there are a few things that the Wildcats need to work on before their next few upcoming games, Supiran said.

“We are working on anticipation in practice and part of moving off the ball is anticipating that ball moving into space. This is one area I believe we need to work on a little more after tonight,” Supiran said.

Faith Henski, Alpena’s goalie, had a solid night after only allowing three goals on more than 20 shots that were targeted at Alpena’s net.

Alpena hosts Traverse City Central on Thursday.

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