Soccer: Chemics, Chargers battle to tie in season opener

by Jason Schneider

The Midland High and Midland Dow freshman soccer teams opened their 2007 campaigns Tuesday with a 1-1 tie at Dow High School.

It seemed as though Midland High dominated the opening half, spending most of the first 40 minutes in Dow’s end of the field. But the Chargers’ defense stood strong as the game was knotted at zero at the break.

But seven minutes into the second half, Midland High’s Federico Vallazza drilled the first goal of the game to give Midland the lead.

Yet the Chargers would answer the bell just three minutes later when Patrick Trainor tied the game with a goal of his own. And that’s how things would end as the horn sounded before another goal found the twine.

After the game, both coaches seemed pleased with their teams’ play despite some early season rust.

“They gave great effort, and both teams played physical soccer,” said first-year Chargers’ coach Kyle Theisen. “We’re very happy to walk away with the tie. They played very well, we’re happy with what we saw today.”

As for the Chemics, varsity coach Bill Ripke liked what he saw from the team despite not being too familiar with them. Ripke was serving as the interim coach Tuesday while the Chemics continue their search for a permanent one.

“We had a lot of balls in the box, a lot of scoring opportunities,” Ripke said. “They’ve got a lot of talent, and they just have to put it together. Today I saw tremendous things and they played well as a team for this early.”

Next up, the Chemics will return to action Saturday Sept. 8 at Grand Blanc while the Chargers head to Heritage to take on the Hawks Wednesday Sept. 5 at 5 p.m.

For more photos from Tuesday’s game, click on “Photo Slideshow” in the top right corner of this article.