Penalty kick goals have now defeated the Niles boys soccer team twice this week.

Lakeshore scored twice on penalty kicks in a 2-1 win over the Vikings Thursday.

On Tuesday, Mattawan scored three second half penalty kick goals in a 5-2 win over Niles.

What is first-year Niles coach Dave Jacobs saying about this trend?

“Unbelievable,” said Jacobs about the penalty kicks against his team. “That’s five, huh? I think in the first game (against Mattawan) a lot of it was frustration. Here in the second game, there were some unlucky chances. We had a guy put a body on their guy on the first penalty kick. That could have gone two ways. It could have been an indirect kick inside the box or a penalty kick. They chose a penalty.”

Lakeshore’s first penalty kick by Grant Greiffendorf gave the Lancers a 1-0 lead with 14:25 left in the first half. Greiffendorf’s second penalty kick was the game-winning goal as it gave Lakeshore a 2-1 lead with 22:50 left in the match.

“We practice (penalty kicks) a fair amount in practice and Grant’s are go-to guy,” said Lakeshore coach Brian Samuel. He doesn’t by any means have the strongest leg on the team. He’s just accurate, calm and patient. You just have to place the ball in the net and not think about how hard you have to kick it.”

Both coaches were asked about the call on the second penalty kick.

“In the second one, I think it was pulling the jersey,” Samuel said. “(A Niles player) had one of our players wrapped around and kind of pulled him back.”

“I didn’t really see what happened,” Jacobs said. “The refs made the call and if they saw it, so be it.”

After falling behind, 2-1, Niles never got a shot on goal. The Vikings had some chances to get off good shots from short and medium distances, but were unable to execute.

“Definitely, scattered,” Jacobs said about his team’s offense in the final 20 minutes. “(Offense) has been our biggest challenge.”

Lakeshore finished with a 15-5 edge on shots. The Lancers owned an 8-2 edge in that area in the first half. Niles didn’t get its first goal of the match until 9:35 left in the first. That shot came from Kai VanAntwerp, who had his kick stopped by Lakeshore goalie Austin McCutcheon.

Niles tied the match at 1 on its second shot as Oliver Rodriguez scored on a header off an assist from Stuart Coulston. The score came with 8:40 left in the first half.

“I’m proud of the guys,” Jacobs said. “They played really awesome. Everybody kept their heads.”

One of the individual standouts for Niles was goalie Ryan Casey, who finished with nine saves.

“It’s a good thing we got him back there,” Jacobs said about his goalie.

 

Lakeshore…2

Niles…1

Halftime score

Niles 1, Lakeshore 1

 

First half

L – Grant Greiffendorf (penalty kick) 14:25

N – Oliver Rodriguez (Stuart Coulston) 8:40

 

Second half

L – Greiffendorf (penalty kick) 22:50

 

Shots on goal

Lakeshore 15, Niles 5

 

Saves

Lakeshore 3 (Austin McCutcheon)

Niles 9 (Ryan Casey)

 

Corner kicks

Lakeshore 1, Niles 2

 

Records

Lakeshore 8-2-1, 2-1 SMAC West Division; Niles 4-3, 0-3 SMAC West Division