Alpena boys soccer falls 1-0 to Traverse City Central in tight Big North battle
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ALPENA – Traverse City Central scored with about eight minutes remaining to Alpena 1-0 in a tightly contested boys varsity soccer match Tuesday night.
The evenly matched game remained scoreless at halftime. Alpena goalkeeper Jayden Crandall made several key saves in the second half to keep the score tied until late in the contest.
With roughly eight minutes left, a deflected pass found a Traverse City Central player, whose shot caromed off the goalpost and into the net for the decisive goal. Alpena applied offensive pressure for the remainder of the game but was unable to find the equalizer.
Crandall finished with six saves.
"Extremely proud of how the boys competed with one of the top teams in the Big North Conference," Alpena Head Coach Ken Dragiewicz said. "Jayden Crandall played outstanding, making a couple impressive saves. The defensive line of Reed Leeck, Jackson Natzel, Bryson Collegnon, Jacob Krey and midfielders Sam Bastow and Mason Burns continually stopped the TC attack and frustrated them all game."
Dragiewicz noted the team's recent progress after an uneven start to the season.
"After some early season adversity this team has really come together and is playing high-level soccer," he said. "Looking forward to the upcoming Big North Conference games as I feel they can compete with anyone on our schedule."
The Wildcats travel to Sault Ste Marie today to take on the Blue Devils at 5 p.m.