Advertisement

West dominated the first half against the Blackhawks then had to hold off a late rally to get the 3-2 Flint Metro League win over their rivals. The West win marked the first time that the Panthers had defeated Brandon since the Blackhawks had joined the Metro.

"Brandon really gave us a scare today," West coach Marc Pittenger said. "I think a bit of a scare is exactly the type of motivation that this team needs right now. No lead is safe in the Flint Metro League and it just goes to show that any FML opponent can come back and win.Ê

"There is a lot of parity in the Flint Metro League this year and any team can win on any given day."Ê

ÊWest's Dani Schoenherr scored the first two goals of the game to give her team the 2-0 lead. Schoenherr now has an area-best 15 goals on the season. Kaitlyn Wildey scored the game-winning goal for the Panthers (7-1-3, 3-0-1 FML).Ê Wildey's goal was the first goal of her varsity career.

"I'm very happy for Kaitlyn Wildey," Pittenger said. "Her first varsity goal couldn't have come at a better time.Ê

"Kaitlyn used her speed and poise to blow past the Brandon defense and score the game-winning goal."

Kurstin Dowdall and Wei Li Crawford were credited with the assists on the West goals. Goalkeeper Ana Tkach made 19 saves in net for the Panthers.

Hannah Scherer and Mayia Chace scored the second half goals for Brandon. Jolene Back had two assists.

"We dominated play in the first half and Brandon fought back to gain the momentum early in the second half," Pittenger said. "We gave Brandon too much room to maneuver the ball and they were able to generate several quality scoring opportunities.

"We were able to regroup after giving up two goals; definitely a tribute to the strong-minded individuals and leadership on this soccer team."

Other results
Goodrich 7, Byron 0: Jolynn Zirnhelt scored four goals to lead the Martians (2-9, 2-4 GAC) to the win on Wednesday. Olivia Glowacki added two for Goodrich.

Ê Montrose 5, LakeVille 1: Shelbey Wernette scored the lone goal for the Falcons in the GAC loss to the Rams on Wednesday.