Northmen soccer rebounds from opener, wins hosted tourney
PETOSKEY — It didn’t take long for the Petoskey boys’ soccer team to settle into the 2022 season.
Petoskey earned a 3-0 win over Marquette, topped Riverview late in a 1-0 game, defeated Marshall in a 1-0 final and fell to Lake Orion, 2-0.
After opening the fall with a loss against Midland earlier in the week, the Northmen hosted a collection of teams Friday at Northmen Stadium and earned an overall victory with a 3-1 record.
“Overall it was a fantastic day for our guys against four very good teams,” Petoskey coach Zach Jonker said. “We are integrating a ton of new players into the the lineup this season and we are already seeing a lot of growth. I loved how we competed in each game and we showed some great resolve and maturity to get the game winners late against Riverview and Marshall.”
The games came in condensed fashion, with shorter halves to get in a full day, though they still moved the Northmen to 3-2 overall on the young season.
Pitching three shutouts in the wins and letting in just two goals the entire day, Jonker really liked what he saw out of his backline group, which showed some signs of gelling.
“The backline is really coming together and developing some cohesion around Jimmy Marshall and Dylan Odenbach in the center back positions,” said Jonker. “To only concede two goals all day, both of which were great shots that banked in off the post, is a really positive step forward for us.”
Against Marquette in the 3-0 opener, Sawyer Webster picked up Petoskey’s first goal of the season off a Ben Shuman throw-in, then Noah Bodurka scored unassisted.
Michael Squires then added the third goal on a penalty kick try after Bodurka went down in the box.
The late score against Riverview came off the head of Charlie Smith, with Webster crossing it into Smith with just four minutes remaining in a scoreless game.
The win over Riverview came as a big one for the Northmen, as they’ve been a regional finalist the past two years and returned 14 seniors to the 2022 roster.
The final goal of the day against Marshall also found the back of the net with the final minutes ticking off the clock, when Kurtis Mainland scored his first goal of the season fro 20 yards out into the bottom corner of the net. It came assisted by Webster with just five minutes remaining.
After being blanked in the opener, Jonker was pleased to see some connections come through throughout Friday, particularly without one of his key weapons on the offensive end of the field in senior Aidan Norton, who is sidelined briefly with an injury.
“Spreading out the scoring amongst five different players is another encouraging sign and means teams won't just be able to key on Aidan when we get him back in the lineup,” added Jonker.
Petoskey’s sprint into the 2022 season continues this week with a pair of non-conference games, then a hosted tournament at the Click Road Soccer Complex Saturday.
The Northmen will first hit the road for the first time this season Tuesday, Aug. 23 with a trip to Elk Rapids, then bring in Maple City Glen Lake on Thursday, Aug. 25 in a 5 p.m. start game out at Click Road.
“I’m excited to watch this group continue to develop,” said Jonker. “We've got another tough matchup Tuesday night at Elk Rapids, who has been in the D3 semis the past two years and they are loaded again.”
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Northmen soccer rebounds from opener, wins hosted tourney
