Pioneers Fall to Schoolcraft

Livonia, MI – Heading in to Wednesday's contest at Schoolcraft Community College, the Delta women's soccer team felt pretty good about their chances of knocking off the #17 ranked team in the nation.  After all, the Lady Pioneers were undefeated in conference play and had just knocked off Muskegon in their second consecutive, MCCAA shutout win.  But the Ocelots, scored a lot, and had other plans in throwing a shutout of their own as Delta dropped its first league contest of the year, 7-0. 

"It sounds weird, but the girls did not play bad," said head coach Paul Stenglein.   The first several possessions backed that statement as the score remained 0-0 until Schoolcraft broke the ice with a goal in the tenth minute of play to take 1-0 lead.  From there,  the Pioneers knew they had their work cut out for them as the Ocelots have been unscored upon in their first seven matches.

"Once the goal went in, I think it changed the complexion of the game emotionally," said Stenglein.  "They played motivated and we played disappointed."

Schoolcraft found the back of the net in the 30^th minute of play and scored three minutes later to take a 3-0 lead into the half.  They would put up four more goals in the second half with two coming off headers on corner kicks.

So now the question is, can the Pioneers overcome the loss and make a run at a Regional title?

"This game was good because it exposed areas of our game that we need to keep working on.  We certainly learned the importance of tight man-marking, and denying the easy pass or shot."

"We will take these lessons, as we get prepared for important conference games this weekend.  We will keep improving, and we will continue to focus on the things that will prepare us to quality for and compete in the Regional Tournament."

Delta hosts Ancilla Saturday before heading across the state to play Lake Michigan on Sunday.  Both games are slated for 1pm starts.