We had our first game of CAAC tourney play tonight at home against Portland. Portland has definitely upped their game this season and has rekindled the competitive rivalry. This was evident once we got underway. Portland really looked more interested in the first half and were beating us to the ball. Once on the ball, they were driving through us pretty well. The tell-tale stat by half-time was that Ionia had zero shots on goal and ther score was 1-0, Portland.

Halftime was about making simple adjustments to our approach with an emphasis on our focus and application of tactics. Even minutes into the second half we still struggled to impose ourselves. The spark we needed came when junior defender Carl Goeckel stepped in to break up some Portland attacks and moved the ball forward to deliver balls into positive space for teammates. He boosted the team's confidence and helped us to find our attacking rhythm. It was at this point that we began to play with the sense of urgency and deliberation we were looking for. That's when we struck back for two to take the lead. From there we kept the pressure on to see out the game.

Goals:
Derrick Santana - 2  As we increased the pressure, Derrick found his way to two very clutch goals when we needed them. 

Assists:
Gage Flanner - 1

Alex Barr with 4 saves to secure the win in goal.

Overall Record: 9-5-2
Conference Record: 4-3-0 
CAAC Copper: 1-0