Traveling to Dowagiac always presents a few hurdles for Wolverine Conference teams. They are very tight defensively, and keep scores close. They also have no field lights so kickoff times have to be earlier in the day. This can throw off the rhythm of players, as well as make it impossible for families and fans to attend the match. Dowagiac also tends, like most teams, to be a bit better at home than they are on the road. Wednesday's match saw Otsego and the hosting Chieftains play a rather balanced game, with the Bolldogs eventually winning 2-0.

Otsego got a goal in each half and feel like they might have had more if they had finished a bit better or capitalized on a few more Chieftain errors. The forwards were off and running early yesterday evening, but seemed to have trouble connecting the final ball or decision that could have meant a breakthrough. Dowagiac kept things tight defensively and walled off the center of the park. The space Otsego was looking for was out wide, and they found it numerous times putting their wide players in 1v1 situations in advanced positions. Some of those moments resulted in narrowly missed crosses, easily dealt with shots, losses in possession. . . But some resulted in corner kicks, which is where the Dawgs found their first goal. Coleton Hutchinson played a driven ball to the back post for Hunter Lucas. The Junior fullback headed the ball back across frame and fellow defender Jon Reitenour tallied his first high school goal with a header. The second goal came just 10 minutes into the second half restart as Jace Engels was rewarded for following an initial ball into the box and taking a bit of a gamble. Kevin Gibson stepped forward from his left back spot and sent a high diagonal ball into the Dowagiac penalty area. Jace was the target, and made a run toward the back post. Dowagiac's keeper was aggressive coming off his line and misplayed the ball above his head, allowing Engels to tap home from close range relatively unscathed.

Senior Jerin Jameson is healthy again, and it was nice to see him get a few minutes tonight as he works toward recovery. He played well, and added depth and experience to our back line. In his absence the last few weeks Cole Sallee and Jon Reitenour have been mainstays at center back. Ian McClellan has been called into the center of defense a few times over that span as well, and last night was one of those times. Sallee took a knock late in the first half and couldn't continue. McClellan dropped back from the midfield and did a solid job next to Reitenour. Though the back line was shuffled a bit more than usual, they nullified most of Dowagiac's attacking threats before they got a great look at goal. A few fouls near the edge of the box in the second half awarded the Chieftains dangerous free kicks. All were dealt with by Jayden Dentler and his host of teammates in the box, and the danger was cleared. Dentler made 7 saves in the clean sheet, many of which came in the first half. He had to make one particularly tricky 1v1 save coming off his line to keep his team's 1 goal lead midway through the first half. Once again the Senior passed the test and now has 10.5 shutouts on the year.

The Wolverine Conference will be decided in the final week of the season, and 4 teams are still mathematically in line for a shot at the title. It should be an exciting run, and we hope to see you all at the matches as this Bulldog team continues their historical season.