By Jeffery Ratliff
Northwest Signal
NAPOLEON – Napoleon held Bowling Green scoreless in the first half, but the Bobcats made an adjustment to the offense and it paid off with three second-half goals, including the game-winner with 7½ minutes remaining in the game.
Bowling Green’s Hayden Fox slid a shot from 20 yards out that never got off the ground and beat the Napoleon defense and keeper to the left corner of the goal to give the Bobcats a 3-2 Northern Lakes League Cardinal Division win Tuesday night at Buckenmeyer Stadium Tuesday.
“Our message at halftime, when we were down 1-0, was to stay calm, no need to panic,” said Bowling Green coach Josh Fox. “We wanted to attack them wide, which we thought would open things up in the middle (of the field). That’s what allowed us to score three goals.”c
BG stays unbeaten at 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Cardinal Division.
Napoleon opened the scoring, with Landon Speiser beating the BG defense and the keeper to the ball off a long pass. Speiser passed the ball to a wide open Riley Kurtzwiler, who buried his shot into a wide open goal for a 1-0 lead with 2:51 left in the first half.
“Overall, in the first half, I thought the play was pretty even,” said Napoleon boys soccer coach Chris DelFavero. “We took advantage of our opportunity and scored. It was a great hustle play by Landon Speiser and Riley gravitated to the back post like we have been talking about.
“I was happy at half,” added DelFavero.
The Bobcats had a chance to tie the game before intermission, but Luca Brininger’s shot hit the post and bounced right to Napoleon keeper Carson Marroquin.
BG wasted little time tying the game in the second half, as Jack Hover took advantage of a turnover by Napoleon’s defense and scored from a tough angle 63 seconds after halftime.
“That goal was huge,” said coach Fox. “Along with getting us going and tying the game, it showed that the stuff we talked about at halftime was real. The guys were able to see it work.”
Napoleon captain A.J. Dirr, who plays defense, was injured on the play and did not return to the game.
“That early goal (in the second half) took some of the wind out of our sails,” said DelFavero.
BG missed a penalty kick high 10 minutes later, but shrugged it off and took the lead for the first time when Adin Metzger beat the Napoleon defense on the wide side of the field and crossed a pass to Brininger, who buried his shot for a 2-1 lead with 26:49 remaining.
“What I am most proud about, with that second goal, was the player who missed the penalty kick scored that goal,” said coach Fox. “Luca Brininger put that (missed shot) behind him and kept himself in the game.”
Napoleon responded, with Speiser once again getting to a loose ball behind the BG defense. This time he saved the ball from going past the back line and passed it back to Andrew Gallagher, whose shot beat the BG keeper to tie the game at 2 with 10:58 left on the clock.
“When they scored their second goal, I thought we are going to find out what we’re made of,” said DelFavero. “I am proud that we continued to battle and get back into the game, tying it up.”
After BG scored to retake the lead, Napoleon had a final scoring chance with a throw-in deep on the BG side of the field. The pass found a Napoleon foot, but the shot had little on it and was easily scooped up for the final save of the game.
The Bobcats finished with a 14-7 advantage in shots and took seven corner kicks to just one by Napoleon.
The Wildcats are now 3-1-2 overall and 0-1-1 in the NLL Cardinal Division. They travel to Clay for another conference match Thursday. The Bobcats host Fremont Ross in a conference match Thursday at Bobcat Stadium and on Saturday BG hosts Liberty Center at noon in a non-league game.
