Cheboygan girls soccer team dominates Clare, earns 3-0 shutout victory at home

CHEBOYGAN – When you're playing a third game in four days, fatigue would surely have to set in, right?

Not for this Cheboygan girls soccer team.

Instead, the Chiefs came out and delivered arguably their best performance of the season in a 3-0 home victory over the Clare Pioneers on Friday.

“We talked about playing more deliberately this evening in terms of being patient, passing to an open teammate, stretching it, getting wider, and building a better attack instead of being so impatient,” said Cheboygan coach Tom Markham. “(Against Brethren on Thursday) we tried to play so forward so frequently instead of just recognizing what (the opponent was) giving us and exploiting this.

“I thought we played way better. Our passing was way better, our intensity was way better, and this is their third game of the week.”

Unlike a slow start against Brethren a day prior, the Chiefs (3-0-1, 3-0-1 Northern Michigan Soccer League) came flying out of the gates. The early intensity paid off for the Chiefs, who saw freshman striker Jaelyn Wheelock score the first of her game-high two goals just over six minutes into the contest. The Chiefs were rewarded for their pressure almost four minutes later, when Wheelock scored again to double Cheboygan's lead at 2-0.

“Jaelyn is a kid that I’ve seen play since she was a little kid and she makes a lot of nice things happen,” Markham said. “She’s got good speed, she’s got creativity. The one goal was a third ball, not a second ball, but it was a third ball, and that’s one of the things we work on in practice, is get that ball squirting around and covering the net. We saw that a lot better in terms of covering the net and getting those easy things, and those goals aren’t easy to cover. How many times have you seen a kid blow them up over the top of the goal, so she seems to be good with that kind of pressure in terms of coming up here and letting it rip.”

Had it not been for a couple of big saves from Clare goalkeeper Izzy Jones, the lead would have been even bigger for the Chiefs. But despite not scoring the rest of the half, Cheboygan used its defense to lock down Clare's attack and help maintain the two-goal cushion going into the break.

With 11:26 remaining, senior midfielder Kenzie Burt found herself on a breakaway and delivered a clinical finish past Jones to seal the Cheboygan victory.

“We definitely wanted to play like we did in the second half of (the Brethren game),” said Burt. “We went into this game knowing that we could win or lose. I think the last game we were in our heads a little bit, so we did a lot better here.”

Burt, along with senior teammates Cassidy Jewell and Lia Basanese, all played a major role in helping the Chiefs control the midfield over the Pioneers (2-2-0, 2-1-0).

“We’re getting there,” Markham said. “Lia (Basanese), my gosh, how good is she only having played for two years, and she’s just a sponge. Whatever you’re coaching her, she’s learning and she’s figuring it out, but Kenzie (Burt) and Cassidy (Jewell) have been playing together for a long time. They’ve both got a lot of soccer IQ, and that’s the beauty there in the middle of the field, is the rest of these kids can learn a ton."

Markham made sure to credit his defense, which hasn’t allowed a goal through four games this season.

“We also covered well defensively,” Markham said. “The defense looked good this evening. Clare had some really fast kids up top that Taylor (Bent) and Ava (Baldwin) took really good care of. We’re just getting better at execution and Clare, their goalkeeper, had a phenomenal couple of saves.

“I was pleased with our all-around performance this evening.”

The triumph wrapped up a 3-0 week for the Chiefs, who captured an 8-0 win at Houghton Lake on Tuesday and a 5-0 home triumph over Brethren on Thursday.

With more time outside, Markham believes his squad will only get stronger and sharper.

“It’s a tough schedule when you consider how many practices we’ve had outside,” Markham said. “Getting out of the gym has just made a big difference for us, and there’s no rest for the weary."

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan girls soccer team dominates Clare, earns 3-0 shutout victory at home