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Ionia senior Tessa Masengale (17) fights for possession of the ball during their conference match against Charlotte on Thursday. The Bulldogs defeated the Orioles, 3-1. — DN Photo | Meghan Tripp
IONIA — Building strong team chemistry is something the Ionia girls soccer team has at the top of their priority list this season.
Not only are they coming together as a cohesive force both on and off the field, but it’s also paying off in their recent weeks of success.
The Bulldogs (3-2-0 CAAC White, 7-6-0 overall), who’re currently third in the CAAC White, have been slowly but surely working their way through their ragged conference schedule, coming off a tough 2-0 loss at Olivet (2-2-0 CAAC White, 3-6-1 overall) Monday night.
Eyeing an opportunity to get back in their league’s win column, they welcomed Charlotte (0-4-0 CAAC White, 3-6-1 overall) Thursday night to excel past their .500 record.
The Bulldogs had all cylinders lit throughout the whole 80 minutes, both offensively and defensively, as they kept the Orioles out of the net for the entire second half to take the victory, 3-1.
“Defensively, we’ve been really, really good for the last couple of weeks,” Bulldog head coach Ben Wolford said. “The goal scoring, on the other hand, has been pretty slow to come by, so we knew we had to fix that coming into today. We had some minor tweaks to formation and personnel and we were able to put the ball in the goal today, which helped us get the result we wanted.”
“I just know that with everyone on this team, we were going to do anything to make a win happen,” senior Tessa Masengale said. “I think our defense really showed out tonight and so did the midfields and forwards, everyone just did a great job tonight.”
With Thursday’s win, the Bulldogs match their overall win total from last year. This year’s team is a unique mix in that they have eight returning starters from last year’s squad, only three of them being seniors. Based on recent trends, Wolford credits his team’s ability to bond with one another to the success they’ve been having.
“It makes every day kind of a joy to be a part of,” he said. “Whether it’s after a tough win or a tough loss or a long, hard practice, these girls just make every day more enjoyable for me, the coaches and each other. It keeps them hungry and keeps us trending in the right direction because we’re just enjoying each other’s presence. It slowly starts to show out down the field more and more as we play.”
“I think the chemistry with this group is really, really good,” Masengale said. “I think we all just kind of get each other and I love this team.”
From the start of the game, possession of the ball was split evenly between the two teams with control contained to the center of the field.
Both teams didn’t shy away from taking multiple shots at their opposing keepers, but nothing found its way in the back of the net for the first 20 minutes. That was until Masengale scored the first of her two goals of the night by launching one into the right side of the net from outside the keeper’s box to go ahead 1-0.
The Orioles kept slowly working their way into the Bulldogs’ territory, but several offside calls prevented them from getting anything past sophomore keeper Kaylynn Doty.
As time was winding down on the clock in the first half, the Orioles tied the match up with a deflection into the net following a corner kick with only three minutes left.
The Bulldogs had a quick response for the Orioles less than a minute later, as junior Josie Lee knocked one into the net off a penalty kick to take back the lead heading into halftime, 2-1.
Returning from the break, the Bulldogs contained the ball on the Orioles’ side of the net for a lengthy period, almost scoring off three consecutive corner kicks in the first five minutes.
After a smart ball played up the center of the field, Masengale quickly worked her way to her second goal of the night at 29:01 to put her team up further.
The Orioles gave it their all in the final half hour of play, but the strength of the Bulldogs’ defensive line was too difficult for them to get past.
“I think that our team culture is what sticks out positively for us,” Masengale said. “No matter what happens on the field, everybody’s always got everybody’s back. If someone messes up on our team, it’s like nothing happened because we just pick each other up and move onto the next play.”
In addition to the offensive excitement, Doty recorded an impressive 12 saves for the Bulldogs.
“Kaylynn had an excellent game,” Wolford said. “One of the minor tweaks was we moved Tessa up top today and I think she responded well with two goals in the back of the net. Kaylynn made some excellent saves, but the defensive line really protected a lot of times. We played with three in the back today, Maddie (Lemke), Katie (Leonard) and Josie, which is a hard thing to do because it puts a lot of pressure on them, but they responded really well.”
The Bulldogs take a break in league play with a nonconference match at Fowlerville on Monday before tackling Lansing Catholic on Thursday, who’s currently sitting at the top of the conference undefeated with Eaton Rapids.
As Wolford and his team look down the final stretch of the season, staying focused on the team dynamic they’ve built is their biggest priority.
“I think the biggest motivating factor for us is to stay together,” Masengale said. “Whether we win or lose, we all still love each other and we’ll always have each other’s backs.”
“We’ve got some team goals that we want to accomplish that we’re really close to accomplishing,” Wolford added. “We’re moving in the right direction, so we’ve got to know where we want to be able to finish. We just really enjoy each other every day and that just keeps us hungry and keeps us coming back and fighting every single day.”
