Jacob Colesa (13) of Grass Lake High School scored a pair of goals in the first half against Jonesville as the Warriors built a 7-0 lead in the Division 4 district game at home on Thursday. Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.
By David Rice
JTV Sports
(October 13, 2022 9:46 PM) Jonesville had a shot at redemption against the Warriors on Thursday night, after losing 12-1 last week to this GL team. But they didn’t find much success and very rarely have offensive opportunities, in this cold Thursday night district opening soccer match.
It took a while for Grass Lake to get rolling on offense. But once they did, they found their groove and coasted from there. After 6 missed shot attempts in the first 20 minutes, Grass Lake finally connected and got on the board first. Cole Keneau cracked open the scoring for the Warriors with 18:12 left in the 1st Half to make it 1-0. Then it became all Warriors from there.
Goals every 3-4 minutes were scored by GL until halftime. Max Goebel had back-to-back goals including a penalty kick to make it 3-0 with 13:58 left in the 1st half. Jacob Colesa, one of 5 seniors on this Warriors team, made his first goal with 12:01 left. Penalty kicks seemed to have worked for GL, going 2 for 2 including Cole Keneau’s 2nd of 3 goals with 8:01 left.
Colesa and Keneau handled the remaining of the 1st half, each scoring 1 more goal. After 2 Warriors injuries, GL was determined to finish strong in the second half. Grass Lake went into the break up 7-0. Jonesville struggled to make ends meet on the offensive end, only getting the ball past the midfield mark just 3 times in the first 40. Not much of that changed for the Comets in the second half.
Grass Lake came out (from the break) rolling and aggressive. After 2 missed head-ins and an additional shot, Jonesville came down into the goal box for the first time, and Tyler Paul made 1 of only 2 stops for Grass Lake (on defense this game).
Then after 10 minutes of fans anticipating the last goal (for mercy rule), the Warriors finally cracked in and ended it. Nathan Jobson, one of 5 seniors for Grass Lake, made the game-ending goal with 29:37 left. By MHSAA rule, an 8 goal lead is declared a mercy rule and the match/game is done (minimum of 40 minutes played). Therefore, Jobson sends his team onto the second round of MHSAA Boys Soccer Playoffs for District 55.
Grass Lake advances and will play a tough matchup on Monday at Hillsdale Academy.
Boys soccer
MHSAA District Soccer Assignments
Division 2 at Mason
Mason 7, Jackson 0: Jackson High School finishes the season with a 2-11-2 record.
Chelsea 2, Northwest 0: Northwest High School finishes the season with a 5-9-2 record.
Division 2 at Middleville Thornapple Kellogg
Western 6, Hastings 0: The Panthers improved to 17-0 with the district win at home. Western will face Marshall on Monday at 7:15 p.m. at Thornapple Valley in the district semifinal.
Division 3 at Onsted
Columbia Central 4, Stockbridge 0: The Golden Eagles won a home district game and will advance to the district semifinal on Monday against Onsted at 5 p.m. Michigan Center will travel to Hillsdale in the other semifinal on Monday at 5 p.m.
Division 4 at Hillsdale Academy
Grass Lake 8, Jonesville 0: Grass Lake (10-4-1) advances to play Hillsdale Academy Monday at 4 p.m. at Hillsdale Academy.