SHELBY — Shelby and Pentwater played a thrilling match for the
second year in a row Friday at Shelby's home field, but this time the
Tigers' Samuel Castro was able to avert a loss with a late goal,
salvaging a 1-1 tie.
Castro received an assist from Andrew
Hayes on the goal, which came with 5:13 to play and prevented Shelby
from losing a game in which it held possession much of the way. The
Falcons defeated Shelby last year, 2-1.
"I think we dominated the game but just weren’t clinical enough
in the final third to win the game," Shelby coach Damian Gonzalez said. "Credit to Pentwater. They’ve given
us a good game two years in a row now."
The first half was
scoreless, but not for lack of opportunities for the Tigers. Shelby had
several corner kicks and scoring chances in the opening half, but the
Falcons' keeper, Ben Wisenbaugh, and the defense was able to turn back
those chances over and over again.
Pentwater's Damian Montoya defends against Shelby's Jaden Furman during Friday's game at Shelby. The teams played to a 1-1 tie.
The second half started
much the same way, but the Falcons got on the board first 10 minutes
into the half when they got their own corner kick opportunity and
executed a brilliant play in which Aaron Mascorro booted the ball into a
spot where Brayden Stein could go get it, which he did, heading it into
the Tigers' goal.
From there the emboldened Falcons were able
to keep up with Shelby a bit better, and they kept the Tigers out of
the goal for 25 more minutes until Castro's tying tally. One key play
took place with just under 10 minutes to go, when Wisenbaugh made a good
hustle play to prevent Alex Dealmonte from getting loose for what would
have been a tying goal.
Pentwater coach Ralph Achterhof
expressed pride in his team's effort, particularly given how young the
roster is, with mostly underclassmen on the field.
"We competed very well," Achterhof said. "We
passed the ball across the field better, and our defensive line
and goalie really stepped up to hold Shelby to only one goal...The
team continues to grow and improve every game."
