Petoskey soccer snaps 15-year winless streak vs. TC West, PHS tennis splits
PETOSKEY — You keep on playing the game because eventually it’ll be your day.
That’s had to be in the mind of the Petoskey boys’ soccer team each and every time the Northmen have met Traverse City West for the last 15 years.
With a streak of losses or ties against the Titans dating back 29 games and 15 years, Petoskey players knew one day it would end.
Turns out, that day was Tuesday.
With a 2-1 victory over West in their Big North Conference match Tuesday at Northmen Stadium, the streak has ended.
It also came as West’s first loss of the season and first BNC defeat since 2018, ending a run of 43-0-3 over the last six years within the conference.
Petoskey scored first on a goal by Tommy Farley on a penalty kick drawn by Finn Yurek in the Titan box, then the Titans evened things up at half to make it 1-1.
With five minutes then left to play, Petoskey’s Eli Dettmer took advantage of a Yurek pass after a strong buildup by the Northmen and delivered the game-winner.
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Petoskey then needed to hold on from there and first-year head coach Noah Honaker – who took some of those losses from the Titans in his own playing days – was ecstatic with the play of Adam Lipchik in goal.
“Adam played the best game of his life in goal,” said Honaker. “A shout out to Zach Jonker for all his help with keeper training.”
Honaker also applauded the play of Charlie Smith and his workrate on 50-50 balls, along with the work of his backline and midfield for keeping the Titans – who had scored 28 goals heading into Tuesday’s game – to just a lone score.
“Jimmy Marshall and the defensive line won everything out of the air and blocked countless shots,” added Honaker. “Dylan Odenbach, Brady Odenbach and Tommy Farley absolutely controlled the midfield and covered an incredible amount of ground.”
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Petoskey improved to 3-5-3 overall on the year and 1-0-1 within the BNC. They’ll try to keep the momentum up when they head to Alpena on Thursday, Sept. 14 for another league match.
The next home game for Petoskey will come on Tuesday, Sept. 19 when Traverse City Central visits Northmen Stadium.
TENNIS
Petoskey 4, TC Central 4
PETOSKEY — Both the Petoskey and Traverse City Central boys’ tennis teams came away with something positive Tuesday when they met on the court in Petoskey.
The Northmen swept through the singles matches, while the Trojans took all four doubles matchups, resulting in a 4-4 tie between the two.
Petoskey’s Elijah Rindfusz took the No. 1 singles match in a 6-3, 6-2 final, then Luke Washington pulled out a No. 2 singles win in 6-1, 6-3.
Collin Brantly then won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3 singles and Brian Tang finished the sweep with a 6-0, 6-0 win.
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In doubles, Petoskey’s Max Faulkner and Luke Bailey took a tough 6-0, 6-0 loss at No. 1, Caleb Knickerbocker and Martin Howard fell at No. 2 doubles, 6-1, 6-3, then Cole Willison and Clark Tarachas fell in a 6-2, 6-2 match at No. 3.
William Rogier and Jack Dumas then rounded out the match with a loss at No. 4 doubles.
Petoskey will try to bring on a Big North Conference dual win when they head to Cadillac on Thursday, Sept. 14 up next.
Contact Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey soccer earns first win over Traverse City West since 2008
