Delta Collects Two Wins over the Weekend

Three games in five days is tough for any team, in any sport, it forces you to rely on your depth and find ways to win, maybe more unconventionally than you have been used to all season, and that's what Delta saw this weekend. With key games on Friday against Alma and Sunday versus Muskegon, they needed both wins, to have a chance for a share of the MCCAA Conference Title.

Against Alma, they started fast, collecting a goal just seven minutes into the contest. Madison Jewell sent a long pass into the zone that was collected by Paige Renshaw who beat the defense, and then the keeper for the 1-0 lead. The other Maddie didn't want to be outdone, so two minutes after the Renshaw goal, she sent a nice pass through the box to Skylar Eckert who gave the Lady Pioneers their second goal of the game within the first ten minutes of action.

The third and final goal of the half was scored by Kaitlyn Viaene, who collected the drop pass from Eckert and scored the goal to give Delta a 3-0 halftime lead.

Three more goals were added in the second half for the Lady Pioneers, one each from Taylor Farrand, Renshaw and Eckert to give Delta a final score of 6-2. Eckert and Renshaw each ended the game with two goals and Kalyn Breckenridge collected another clean sheet while in net.

Sunday's game proved to be a different animal as Muskegon came out and controlled the early part of the game. Delta would settle in however, and in the thirteenth minute, would get on the board when Eckert drove the field and passing the ball to Casey Allessie who collected the ball after a deflection and scored the goal. A minute later, Elena Lippert sent a great through ball head to Eckert who beat the keeper on a strong shot extending the lead to 2. In the thirtieth minute Allessie would get the pass from Lindsay Musser and finish on her second goal of the game, and one that proved to be important. Muskegon would bounce back at the end of the first half and score a goal from Yojaira Campos, cutting the Delta lead to 3-1 at intermission.

The second half became a very physical game, giving the upper hand to Muskegon as Delta was playing on short rest. With 30 minutes to go, they would add another goal from Campos to cut the lead to down to 1. The rest of the game showed strong defense from Delta as they held on to collect the 3-2 win and their eighth conference win of the season.

"I was very pleased with the effort of the team today, and their resilience in a very physical and tiring game," Coach Paul Stenglein said after Sunday. "This was our third game in five days and all of the games challenged us both physically and mentally. I'm proud of the girls for earning all 3 victories during this very challenging time."

Up next is a showdown with Schoolcraft College on 10/11 which will be a home game for Delta. A win for Delta, would mean a share of the MCCAA Conference Championship.