Whitehall, Montague soccer play to fast-paced, hard-fought tie

WHITEHALL — When Whitehall meets Montague, recent results against other foes rarely seem to matter, and that was certainly the case again Wednesday as the two teams fought to a 1-1 tie.

The result was on paper perhaps a bit of a surprise after Montague was mercy-ruled by Ludington last week and the Vikings pulled off an upset of the Orioles Monday, but for the visiting Wildcats, it was a sign of what they hope is growth among their young team.

"(We) feel like we're finally starting to hit that stride, where we're starting to feel like we can put things together," Montague coach Brandon Mahoney said. "You can see the passing. That's when we had that opportunity. That's when we scored. We connected four or five passes. The boys are finally seeing it on the field. We can practice it, and we can talk about it, but to actually see them connect it (is great)."

Indeed, the Wildcats got their goal after a string of nice passes early in the second half, capped by Isaiah King launching a note-perfect shot from the right of the net on a line across to the far corner. That score tied the game barely two minutes after halftime.

Whitehall opened the scoring with 11:10 to go before halftime when Evan Jud broke loose from the defense and fired the ball into the net. The Vikings possessed the ball more and created more scoring chances than Montague, but were unable to cash enough of them in, despite a flurry of opportunities late in the game.

"Rivalry games are all so emotional," Whitehall assistant coach Kevin Reid said. "You never can call this thing. We played a little bit tight and had a slow start. We didn't get the breaks that we were hoping for and we got desperate."

Not helping Whitehall's cause, but boosting the Wildcats', was the best game of the season by freshman keeper Chayse Maddox. Down the stretch, Maddox made several saves and displayed his rapid improvement on one with a perfectly timed jump on a long shot from just inside the box, tipping it over the net. Mahoney called it the best save he's seen Maddox make. Also late in the game, the Wildcat keeper stood his ground when Whitehall's Javi LeBlanc was racing toward him with the ball, and managed to deflect LeBlanc's shot harmlessly out of bounds.

"I've got to give credit to the keeper," Reid said. "We caught a kid who had a great day."

"He's not the biggest keeper we've ever had," Mahoney said. "He can get to that top bar, but he's got to time it just right. He had a phenomenal save...He is coming into his own, and to have him step up as a freshman right now, looking in the future is bright."

Maddox got help, too, from defensive stalwart Michael Jones. With just under eight minutes left, Maddox had to vacate the goal to make a save, but Whitehall quickly regained possession and looked to be in position for a game-winner before Jones effectively took over the keeper spot and got in the way of a shot to preserve the tie.

"MJ, I can't say enough good about him today," Mahoney said. "He was lockdown in the middle. Him and Austin (White), those two, they make that defense what it is."

Mahoney also credited Presley Smith, Tyson Schattenberg and Korben Sanchez for their work on defense. The 'Cats had to rebuild the back end this season after many key defensive players graduated, and now they're starting to see progress.

Whitehall, meanwhile, badly wanted a win in order to remain in the West Michigan Conference race; the tie ended their three-game league winning streak after an opening loss to North Muskegon. Anyone besides Fremont knocking off the Norsemen might seem like a long shot - the teams tied Wednesday, and North Muskegon has three lopsided shutouts in its other league games - but that's why they play the games.

Conference race or not, both squads, young as they are, have their focus squarely trained on the district.

"I think we're definitely on the upward swing," Reid said. "We have to make sure that our heads are right...Every day we hope to get better."

"There would be nothing more fun than if we get to the district finals, and it's us and Whitehall," Mahoney said. "It would be dreamy. We were kind of hoping for it last year."