Rangers fall to Shamrocks
Published 12:05 am Thursday, October 13, 2011
Cassopolis’ David Sopaseuth heads a ball against Berrien Springs during the opening round of the Lakeland Conference Soccer Tournament. (Cassopolis Vigilant photo/KELLY SWEENEY)
BERRIEN SPRINGS —- The Cassopolis soccer team traveled to Berrien Springs Oct. 5 to take on the Shamrocks in the opening game of the Lakeland Conference tournament and came within 20 minutes of pulling off a huge win against a team that had thoroughly beat them 6-0 not even a week earlier.
The game slipped away from the Rangers with just over 19 minutes left to play when the Shamrocks scored three goals in a span of eight minutes to take the game 3-1.
The Rangers got on the board 12 minutes into the game when defensive back George Samadder buried a penalty kick into the goal after Berrien Springs got called for a hand ball right in front of its own goal.
From that point on Cassoplis’ net-minder Kelvin Curtis stole the show with an array of impressive saves.
He needed every one of them.
After scoring their lone goal, the Rangers got outshot 11-2 for the remainder of the game.
It wasn’t until the 60th minute and the seventh shot on goal that the Shamrocks evened the score with a goal from Geoffrey Mfuney who slyly slipped the ball past two defenders and placed it into the back of the net.
Three minutes later, Berrien Springs was awarded a free kick from about 15 yards out where German born foreign exchange student Finn Anger put up a shot that bended its way past an outstretched Curtis and into the upper-right corner of the crossbar. Isaac Perozo capped of the Shamrocks’ barrage of scoring when in the 72nd minute he flipped the ball into the back of the net despite being in the middle of a cluster of players.
Despite the outcome, Cassopolis coach Tony Catanzarite was extremely proud of his team’s performance.
“This was the best game they played all year. Everyone was communicating on the field, guys were distributing the ball well, and the overall intensity was great,” he said. “It makes me happy that we’re viewed as a team no one wants to play moving ahead.”
Lakeland Conference Soccer Tournament
At Berrien Springs
Berrien Springs… 3
Cassopolis… 1
Halftime Score
Cassopolis 1, Berrien Springs 0
First half
C – George Sammader 12th minute
Second half
B – Geoffrey Mfuney 60th minute
B – Finn Anger 63rd minute
B – Isaac Perozo 72nd minute
Shots on Goal
Berrien Springs… 12
Cassopolis… 3
