McKinley scores twice, Cheboygan girls soccer thrashes Oscoda in cancer awareness game
CHEBOYGAN – The Cheboygan girls soccer team appears to be hitting its stride at the right time of the season.
For a second day in a row, the Chiefs rolled to a 6-0 victory, this time over Oscoda, during their cancer awareness game at home on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Cheboygan hammered Roscommon in a six-goal rout.
“I thought we dominated the whole game, it just wasn’t showing on the scoreboard until the second half, which is good to get a lot of our players some points,” Cheboygan senior midfielder Taylor Bent said. “It’s great (to get the younger players some time) because a lot of them aren’t full familiar with the varsity level and speed yet, and it’s great to have them understanding and being ready to improve every day.”
With the Chiefs (8-2-2) coasting to a dominating win, here’s some takeaways from Wednesday.
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Improved finishing
At certain stretches this season, the Chiefs created chances but struggled to bury them, especially against some of the tougher opponents they faced. On Wednesday, though, there was an indication of Cheboygan’s improved finishing as the Chiefs saw sophomore Jillian McKinley score a team-high two goals during a five-goal second half. Freshman Elise Markham gave the Chiefs a 1-0 lead midway through the first half.
Joining in on the scoring act in the second half were Bent, Jaelyn Wheelock and Morgan Davis, who helped Cheboygan pour it on and cap off an outstanding display.
“Tay (Bent), Elise (Markham) and Jillian (McKinley), we’re working on combinations on that midfield that work, but that midfield is just a lot more stable,” Cheboygan coach Tom Markham said. “We’re making much better decisions with the ball, and the biggest difference is we’re finishing. (Bent) had some excellent finishes tonight. We’re getting better opportunities on the ball and not letting it go across the goal mouth without getting something on it. We had some really pretty finishes tonight.”
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Bent making a difference in return
In her return to action on Tuesday, Bent, a Grand Rapids Community College women’s soccer signee, made an immediate impact by netting a hat trick in Cheboygan’s victory in Roscommon.
Bent’s influence on the game was much of the same on Wednesday, controlling Cheboygan’s midfield, making excellent passes to start attacks, and even moving further up the pitch and scoring from a forward position. In addition, Bent's leadership will only benefit the Chiefs going forward.
For a good cause
During Wednesday’s contest, Cheboygan players wore pink uniforms to honor someone who has, had or is currently battling cancer. All proceeds for the game will benefit Cheboygan resident Brian Brandau.
“(Our players) took this very seriously,” Markham said. “We said that at the beginning that we want to honor those people, not only those people who are still around, thank God, but more importantly to honor those people who aren’t with us anymore. I was really impressed with how our captains were that we’ve got to honor them. They were honored to do this for a local family.”
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Cheboygan will seek a third straight win when it travels to Clare for a 6 p.m. matchup on Friday.
“We’ve got four tough opponents in our sights,” Markham said. “We’ve got to take it just one game at a time, just keep playing, keep our wits about us, and keep being competitive. I hope a couple of (our opponents) are planning on the same team because we are playing night and day different than we did at the beginning of the season.”
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Cheboygan girls soccer team routs Oscoda in cancer awareness contest
