With Friday’s 2-0 over Tiffin, not only did the SVSU men’s soccer team come one step closer to a GLIAC championship, the team’s seniors also became the all-time winningest class in SVSU soccer history, winning their 56th career game. However, if all goes as planned, the seniors will have many opportunities to win even more.
The team traveled to Tiffin, a team that was picked to win the league prior to the season, and came away with their fifth shutout of the season.
“They possess the ball well,” head coach Andy Wagstaff said. “We’re used to out possessing teams, but in this game, we knew that they would probably have more of the ball than we would, so we set ourselves up differently from a tactical standpoint, and I think that we defended very, very well.”
Offensively, it was a familiar script for the Cardinals, with goals scored by Tyler Channell and Jordan Kalk. For Channell, it was his 17th goal of the season and for Kalk, his 19th. The two forwards are the top two goal scorers in the GLIAC this season.
“Obviously, everything they’ve produced this season has come down to great teamwork,” Wagstaff said. “Jordan is such a direct, determined, quick, athletic forward. Channell is different because he’s very strong and powerful. Sometimes two and three defenders on his back can’t seem to contain him. They’re both very different players, but they both compliment each other extremely well.”
The second half was scoreless, and Alex Bouillennec was again solid in goal, stopping all five Tiffin shots that came his way. Bouillennec has been one of the strongest keepers in the GLIAC all season, allowing only 0.84 goals a game and saving 78 percent of opponents shots. Both are second best in the conference.
“He’s the kind of person that wants to get better every day,” Wagstaff said. “He doesn’t come out of a game patting himself on the back and thinking about how good he did, he thinks about what he needs to improve on and, that’s what makes him the goalkeeper that he is.
“He didn’t have a million saves to make (Friday), but what he did need to do he did very, very well.”
Overall, Wagstaff was impressed with his team’s ability to adapt to the style of play that Tiffin brought at them.
“I’m just extremely happy with the tactical flexibility of my group to change their game plan and win a very tough game against a strong team at their place,” Wagstaff said.
Sunday, the team was back in action against Findlay and came away with a thrilling 3-2 win. Despite trailing 1-0 and 2-1, the Cardinals scored two goals late in the second half to escape the weekend with a sweep. Andrew Dalou, Kalk and Channell scored for SVSU.
“It wasn’t a pretty performance by any means,” Wagstaff said. “But the character and fight we showed to come from 2-1 down with only 12 minutes left was fantastic. I’m extremely proud of the way the team fought their way back twice in this game to eventually score the winner.”
The win sets up a de facto GLIAC regular season championship match on Friday between SVSU and Northwood. Both teams have one GLIAC loss on the season, SVSU’s loss coming to Lake Erie, Northwood’s loss to the Cardinals in the first GLIAC match of the season. Northwood tied Tiffin 2-2 on Sunday. The eighth-ranked Timberwolves (13-1-1, 11-1-1) will travel to Saginaw to take on the 18th-ranked Cardinals (14-2, 12-1). The match begins at 2:30 p.m.
“We need to be mentally prepared more than anything,” Wagstaff said. “It will be a physical battle as always, and playing with maximum intensity is crucial. It should be a physical and mental battle.”
