Delta Avenges Loss to Jackson
Pioneers earn hard fought 2-1 victory over Jets
University Center, MI – The Delta College women's soccer team began the first leg of a grueling three-games-in-four-days schedule on Friday as they hosted the Jets of Jackson Community College. Delta came in to the contest one-half game behind Jackson in third place in the MCCAA and had lost the earlier contest of the season, 1-0.
This time around, it appeared that the Jets would get another win as they took a 1-0 lead into halftime, scoring a goal in the 28th minute of play. Delta's defensive pressure was matched by the Jet's throughout the game.
"We knew we were in for a battle," said co-head coach Paul Stenglein. "With the weather and the type of team Jackson is, we knew we had to be on our best game and just be patient. If we played good defense eventually we would break through and we did."
In the 66th minute of the game the Pioneers finally got on the board as Taylor Farrand took a deep ball and was able to head it to Madison Tweddle who then put it past the Jets keeper to knot the score at one apiece. The score would remain tied at 1-1 heading in to the final ten minutes of match play. That's when Gillian Carroll took a free kick and was able to get the ball to Aleisha Jones. Jones did the rest from there, beating the Jackson keeper one-on-one to give Delta the lead and ultimately the win.
The goal was Jones' seventh of the season which upped her team leading points to 16. The sophomore from Midland High was coming off a five point performance against Muskegon.
"I'm very proud of the girls and how they continued to work hard to win the 50/50 balls," said Stenglein. "Couple that with making the most of our scoring opportunities and it got us a huge victory."
"It puts us one step closer to post-season play."
The win gives Delta sole possession of second place in the MCCAA and ups their record to 6-2 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
The Pioneers play again on Sunday versus the SVSU Club team. Game time is scheduled for 1pm at the SVSU athletic complex.