The 2023 Blue Devil soccer season ended in Gaylord last week. It was a battle of the Blue Devils as the Gavlord Blue Devils hosted the Sault High Blue Devils in District playoffs.
Gaylord controlled the ball from the start and had several good chances throughout the first half. They were only able to get one past Sault goalkeeper Nick Wood. The second half saw the Sault team come out with a more aggressive attack. About twenty minutes into the second half the Sault changed goalkeepers. Gaylord kept good control of the ball and with a nice shot scored their second goal of the game on Ethan Clark with about 7 minutes to go in the game. The final result was Gaylord 2 and the Sault 0.
Coach Alan MacArthur shared “Gaylord definitely came out quick and controlled the field. We didn’t make it easy for them though. They had to earn that victory against us. Both of our goalkeepers played outstanding, and we did have a chance to tie the game up in the first half, but the Gaylord goalie made a great diving save to keep us off the board. I think our players had a hard time adjusting to Gaylords field, its turf and not grass so it’s a little faster than we are used to.”
The team finished the year with 4 wins and 13 losses. The Sault had 2 players with 4 years of Varsity experience, 3 players with 3 years of experience, 5 players with 2 years of experience and 9 new players with this season being their first year playing at the High School level.
“When you have the amount of first year and second year players starting games as we had this year, against a team of players that have 70 plus games each of experience, there is going to be some growing pains. This year wasn’t about wins or losses, it was about getting the experience of playing soccer at the Varsity level.”
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