Coldwater soccer drops heart breaker at Parma Western, shares Interstate 8 crown
JACKSON – The Coldwater Cardinal varsity boys soccer team dropped a heartbreaker at Parma Western on Tuesday, falling to the Panthers by the score of 2-1, giving the Cardinals and the Panthers a share of the Interstate 8 conference championship as a result.
With a win the Cardinals would have clinched an outright Interstate 8 conference title as they made the trip still unbeaten in the conference at 5-0, while Parma Western entered the game at 4-1 after falling last Thursday to Marshall. Parma forced a tie atop the standings with the win, however, with Coldwater and Parma Western ending the Interstate 8 conference schedule at 5-1.
Coldwater raced out to the early lead Tuesday night as senior captain Arif Ahmed put the Cardinals up 1-0 with 10:43 left in the first half on a goal assisted by Nabil Saied.
That lead would last through the half and would hold until Parma Western was able to knot things up at 1-1 thanks to a penalty kick goal with 26:03 left to play.
Both teams battled for position until it was Parma Western scoring what would turn out to be the winning goal with 18:23 left to play in the game after a mad scramble in front of the Cardinal net, giving the Panthers the 2-1 lead.
Coldwater had numerous chances to tie the game up late, including a crucial miss on a penalty kick with 12:33 to play, however the Cardinals could not seem to put a goal home, with the game ending at 2-1.
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Franky Ramos led the Coldwater defense in goal with six saves.
With the tough loss Coldwater ends their Interstate 8 schedule at 5-1, while their overall record now stands at 11-6-1 overall. Coldwater will next see action Thursday when they travel to Edwardsburg for non-conference play, followed by their final home game of the season on Saturday when they host Mattawan.
The Cardinals will then open MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) District play next Wednesday, Oct. 11, when they travel to St. Joseph High School to compete in the D2 (Division 2) District opener.
In junior varsity action it was Coldwater defeating Parma Western 2-0. Scoring for Coldwater was Nasser Abdullah and Ahmed Norman.
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This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater soccer falls to Parma, still earns share of Interstate 8 title
