Bulldog soccer team upsets Imlay City; tie Cros-Lex
The Yale boys soccer team had a strong week on the pitch as the regular season winds down.
First, the Bulldogs battled the Croswell-Lexington Pioneers to a 0-0 tie — a marked improvement over when Cros-Lex visited Yale earlier in the season and scored an easy victory.
Later in the week, in perhaps their biggest match of the season, Yale stunned Imlay City 1-0 on the Bulldogs’ home pitch.
The victory marked the first time in 11 years that Yale defeated Imlay City in soccer, knocking the Spartans out of a first-place tie in the Blue Water Area Conference.
Yale 1, Imlay City 0
In a tight, defensive match against Imlay City last week, Yale’s Joshua Illes found the back of the net off a corner kick from Liam Topolewski with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
Illes struck the ball between two Imlay City defenders and past the reach of the Spartans’ keeper.
Following the match and a midfield celebration with his team, coach Pat Egan praised his squad’s effort.
“Our midfield of Leonhard Karasch, Joshua Illes, Mathew Willey, Oliver Nelson and Easton Bullard did a great job of winning the midfield battles and releasing our forwards with quick counter-attack passing into the final third,” Egan said.
Bulldog keeper Ian Campbell and the Yale backline delivered another impressive showing, tallying their second consecutive shutout against one of the BWAC’s top teams. Imlay City was tied for first place in the BWAC before Wednesday’s loss.
Yale 0, Cros-Lex 0
Campbell also turned in a solid performance in net during the Cros-Lex match, recording his second shutout of the season with help from defenders Zach Freehling, Drew Dykstra, Logan Wright and Easton Bullard.
Illes drew the tough assignment of man-marking Cros-Lex’s standout senior midfielder, Gavin Oleski.
“Joshua Illes has the ability to feel games out and know what role he needs to fill to give our team the best chance to win,” Egan said. “Some nights, you can expect a game-winner from him in a big rivalry match, or some nights it’s shutting down the other team’s most dangerous player and finding ways to score on dead-ball opportunities.”
“Cros-Lex is one of the top teams in the BWAC this year,” Egan added. “Our goal this season has been to peak and compete with the best teams in the BWAC toward the end of the season. With our captains’ leadership and buy-in from everyone on the team, we are hitting that goal.”
