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Balance on offense, defense keys Alpena win over Rams

News Photo by James Andersen Alpena junior Jack Cook (17) attempts to dribble past Harbor Springs defender Sam Miller during the first half of a boys soccer game on Monday at Park Family Field at Wildcat Stadium. Cook scored a goal in Alpena’s 6-0 win over the Rams.

ALPENA — The Alpena boys soccer team had a big win over Harbor Springs securing a 6-0 victory on Monday.

The Wildcats played outstanding defense, allowing only two shots on goal during the entire game.

“I’ve been really pleased with our defense this year, all of our players have played really well so far,” Alpena coach Tim Storch said.

Alpena’s offense complemented a solid defense effort.

The Wildcats started the game hot, scoring their first goal off of a throw-in that Cam Young converted into a goal during the first minute of the game.

Alpena kept the pressure on Harbor Springs and was rewarded for its efforts. After a few attempts on goal, Bennett VanDuinen put a shot behind the goalie, giving the Wildcats a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

Alpena’s offense began to slow down until Austin Townsend scored his first goal of the game with 8:13 left in the first half, extending the lead to 3-0.

The Wildcats offense struck again with five minutes left in the first half when Jack Cook buried a shot for Alpena’s fourth goal of the game.

Alpena didn’t score again until there were about 28 minutes left in the second half when Austin Townsend found the net for the second time of the night.

Storch made some adjustments towards the end of the game, switching many offensive players to defense and vice versa. This led to a unique opportunity as Sam Cook scored the final goal of the game, finishing with a 6-0 win over Harbor Springs.

“I played everybody in different positions so it’s fun for them and seeing Sam Cook getting a goal on a penalty kick was also pretty cool… this gives us a lot of flexibility and versatility which I really like,” Storch said.

Alpena ended the game with 12 shots on the goal, connecting on six of them.

“Efficiency was our main focus tonight. I thought Saturday we created a lot of goal-scoring chances but, we weren’t very efficient at finishing, tonight was different,” Storch said.

The Wildcats’ win improved their record to 2-2-1 and Storch said his team still has some things to improve on early in the season.

“I still think we can get better on the flow of the game and we can still play quicker,” Storch said.

Alpena travels to play Sault Ste. Marie today.

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