Soccer nets must seem like they're the size of basketball nets these days for Garden City's boys soccer team, whose offensive woes continued Tuesday night against host Farmington Hills Harrison.
The Cougars were unplugged by the Hawks, 2-0, in a post- Labor Day weekend encounter.
The loss dropped Garden City to 0-4-3. Harrison improved to 3-1-1.
Harrison was first to the ball for most of the night that's been our biggest problem all season so far, said first-year GC head coach Jeff Szypula. We're losing the 50-50 balls; that's something we're going to have to work on in practice.
Junior midfielders Moussa Zaatar and Isaac Kawesa scored Harrison's goals.
Zaatar's goal came late in the first half with assists by Luai Fakhoury and Derek Haefner, who sent a pass in front of the net to Zaatar, who hit the ball into the side netting.
Isaac Kawesa scored in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Eimil Hennes' shot caromed off a defender, causing a scramble in front of the net, and Kawesa rushed in to finish it.
We had to be particularly sharp with our finishing because the Garden City keeper (Matt Wisniewski) was outstanding, Harrison coach Tim Russell said. He probably had five superior saves (including a penalty kick).
We very easily could've scored six goals, but he was very much on his game tonight. It would have been a more lopsided score, but he kept them in the game.
Szypula said his team followed the game plan make the Hawks shoot from great distances but to no avail.
We cluttered the middle and forced them to shoot from the outside, which is usually effective, Szypula said. But they were really on-target with their shots outside of 20 yards.
The shutout was the fourth of the season for Harrison.
There were a couple instances when we got sloppy tonight, Russell said. The majority of the time, the guys off the ball were making good runs, and that helped us to be creative.
We have to remember the key is we have to stay disciplined on defense and be creative and unpredictable on offense.
The only Cougar shot that found the back of the net was negated by the referee's whistle.
Jordan Ruggaber-Shaw scored what would have a big goal for us in the second half, but he was called for a hand-ball just before he shot it, Szypula said. Shane Feasel also had a nice opportunity after he chased down a through ball, but his shot went just over the top of the cross-bar.
Senior goalie Brenden Tatomir, who had little playing time last year, is Harrison's most improved player, according to Russell.
He looks very seasoned this year, he said. He's earned what experience he's gotten in the last year by working hard.
Zaatar played his strongest game to date and excelled wherever he played on the field, Russell added.
He also cited the play of defenders Haefner, Alec Parkins, Josh Brunett and Rob Simpson as being almost without fault.
Eimil Hennes probably has been our best player game in and game out, because he's been intense every game, Russell said. He hasn't had a weak game.
(Midfielders) Ian Cleary and Tomo Fukai made it impossible for Garden City to get anything going because, if you beat one, the other was right behind him.
The Cougars are hoping some upcoming home-cooking will help solve their scoring drought. On Friday, they host Westland John Glenn in a contest slated to begin at 5:30 p.m.
On Wednesday, they open Western Wayne Athletic Conference play with a home game against defending co-champion Dearborn High. The opening kick-off for that game is set for 7 p.m.
Farmington Observer sports editor Dan O'Meara contributed to this story.
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