Away game loss to Charlevoix. 1-2 at halftime. 1-5 final. Sunny, chilly.

This was the seventh game of the 2016 season and the sixth away game for the Benzie Central Girls Varsity Soccer team. This was the first and only time that we will face Charlevoix this season.

Charlevoix had 29 shots during the game, compared with only four shots from Benzie. The first half of this game is what both Benzie coaches, Scott Kubit and Aubrey Ann Parker, have been waiting for all year long — seriously, I can’t say enough about how hard our girls played, especially the first 20 minutes of this game!

Allana Bostick scored (with Haley Papineau’s assist) very early on in the game at about 13 minutes in; from then on, the Benzie Central Huskies had the Charlevoix Rayders struggling to figure out how to play the tough game that they are used to playing — it was awesome to see them so discombobulated and our girls going to literally every ball! Charlevoix scored just outside the six-yard line at about 19 minutes into the first half, with an assist from Payton Novotney. Then Payton Novotney scored herself at 27 minutes in, again at the six-yard line, for a score of 1-2 at halftime.

Ultimately, our injuries and lack of depth on the bench (we only had 2-3 subs) kept our Huskies from being able to keep it up for the entire game, and the Rayders put three more in on us during the second half. (By contrast, Charelvoix not only have a JV team, but they also had about 22 girls on the Varsity team, so a lot more depth from which to pull when people get tired or injuries start becoming apparent.) Charlevoix scored at the six-yard line with 7 minutes into the second half, and again at 23 minutes into the second half, and again at 29 minutes into the second half. Also scoring for the Raiders: Emily Chomiczewski with one goal, Kelsey Engstrom with two goals, Kylee Scholten with one goal, Rachel Nesburg with one assist, and Raigan Novotne with one assist.

Brava to the girls: I hope that we can play with this kind of heart for the rest of the year — if so, we’ll end up with way more wins than we were anticipating!

We were missing: Fenja Firnhaber (injured), Tylor Kistler (injured), Ayla Breuker (sick), Brenna Harm (didn’t show up until the second half because she had a doctor’s appointment). Nick Baesch brought halftime snacks.

Below, you’ll find photos from the game.