ESCANABA - Beware of shorthanded teams.
Bayside Soccer Club showed why Saturday in a 4-1 triumph over the Big Bay de Noc Black Bears at Bay College.
Bayside, which had only 11 available players, gained a 3-0 advantage in the first half on this sunny, very warm and windy afternoon.
"Our kids held up well, especially for being a very young team," said Bayside coach Les Cseter. "Only one senior played for us today. Yet, we're versatile enough to where we were able to rotate them between offense and defense. Mother Nature also did its part. We were fortunate enough to have the wind on our back in the first half, and we took advantage of that."
Erik Marenger opened the scoring on a cross pattern just four minutes into the match. Cody Cousineau then took advantage of a pair of defensive breakdowns, scoring from point blank range with 19 minutes and 8:26 left to give Bayside its three-goal cushion at the intermission.
"It seemed like we were able to play from the outside in, and that enabled us to spread out their defense," said Cseter. "This game is not a whole lot different from any other game. You want to be able to control the ball."
Freshman Cole Potvin got Big Bay on the board two minutes into the second half, hitting a left-angle shot on a pass from senior Dan Johnson.
Bayside's Tom Cseter ended the scoring on a rebound from seven feet out with less than three minutes remaining.
"The Escanaba team stayed with its game plan," said Big Bay coach Gary Sporer. "They really controlled the ball well. This was a great effort on their part with 11 players.
"I thought we made a real good comeback early in the second half. After we scored, I think our confidence was raised. We're still a young team and this is another step up the ladder. Any time we play a good team, we can learn from it.
Bayside (2-0), which outshot the Black Bears 12-3, is hosting the Marquette jayvees today. Big Bay (1-2) faces Copper Country Christian Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Michigan Tech.
