Soaring Eagles end Black Bears undefeated season
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HANNAHVILLE -- The Hannahville Soaring Eagles defended their home turf in a hard-fought 2-1 soccer victory over the Big Bay de Noc Black Bears here Wednesday.
Senior Miles Halfaday scored the match-winner during a scramble in front of the Big Bay net in this Northern Lights League contest.
The victory enabled the Soaring Eagles to gain a split with the Black Bears in their regular-season series. Big Bay won the first meeting 2-0 on Sept. 8.
"That was a tough match and we knew it was going to be tough," Hannahville coach Dan Kleikamp said. "We adjusted a little in our defensive line and moved a couple pieces in our back end to generate a little more offense. Sometimes you get a lucky bounce. We also have to give them credit. They played well. Miles played a really good game. I think this gives us a little more momentum going into the league tournament."
Halfaday scored the first goal from 50 feet out and Big Bay junior Eli Cooper tied the score from inside the box late in the first half.
"Eli is a good player," Halfaday said. "We wanted to keep somebody in front of him. They're good on defense. We knew this would be a tough match, but it was also a fun match. It feels great to finish undefeated at home. It was a team effort."
The Black Bears host the Escanaba Bayside jayvees Monday and Kingsford jayvees Thursday. The Soaring Eagles are idle until Oct. 10 when they travel to Mackinac Island for the league tourney.
"I think both goaltenders did a phenomenal job," Big Bay coach Alex Ranguette said. "Finley (Morris) did a fantastic job. There was really nothing different from our first match. The field here is smaller. We like to play more of an uptempo game. The field on Mackinac Island is a lot larger which I think will help us."
In volleyball, a lengthy service run helped the Black Bears break away for a 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-12) triumph over the Soaring Eagles.
This one was close well into the third set before junior Cali Miller served for eight straight points, enabling Big Bay to gain a 21-10 advantage.
"They have good servers," Big Bay senior Peyton Pederson said. "Although, our serve and receive was bad. I think their serving surprised us. They've gotten better since the last time we played them. Cali's serving gave us a lot of momentum. I think they got a little rattled."
Hannahville, behind a five-point serving run by Mercedes Meshigaud, took an 8-3 in the third.
The Soaring Eagles then committed a net violation and Miller tipped the ball over the net for a kill to shave Big Bay's deficit to 8-7.
Hannahville still led 9-8 following a passing miscue by the Black Bears.
A defensive miscue and back-to-back passing errors, however, foiled the Soaring Eagles, enabling the Black Bears to gain an 11-9 lead.
A kill by senior McKenzie Mathias brought the Soaring Eagles within a point before the Black Bears began to pull away.
"It was a hard-fought match," Big Bay coach Angie Carley said. "Hannahville made it hard for us, but once we started playing our game we got some of our focus back. They have some hard servers. We told the girls we have to set up our offense."
In the fourth set, Big Bay gained a 9-3 lead on a four-hit violation by Hannahville.
The Black Bears then made consecutive errors while returning the ball prior to freshman Ivy Gates tipping the ball over the net for a sideout and 10-6 cushion.
Hannahville got within 13-8 before Big Bay extended its lead to 17-10 on a Soaring Eagles' passing miscue.
A service ace by Grayce Williams trimmed Hannahville's deficit to six points. The Black Bears, however, didn't allow the Soaring Eagles to get any closer.
In the opener, the Soaring Eagles gained a 20-12 advantage on an ace by Makhia Foster prior to a sideout and five-point run by Miller helping the Black Bears climb within 20-18.
Big Bay was within 22-20 following an ace by Gates before a defensive error enabled the Soaring Eagles to win that set.
The Black Bears gained a seemingly-comfortable 19-12 cushion on an ace by freshman Kentlee DesJarden in the second.
A defensive miscue by Big Bay, however, enabled Hannahville to close within 20-18.
Hannahville got within 24-23 on an ace by Mathias before that set ended on a hitting miscue.
"It was a great match for sure," Hannahville coach Breanne Massey said. "We have a lot of young players who are learning to control their emotions. I think our communication broke down and some of our girls had a little bit of an off night. Peyton (Pederson) is really good, definitely a great player."
Pederson hit three service aces to go with 12 kills and eight digs. Cali DesJarden got four aces, four kills and four digs. Gates contributed four aces, three kills and 10 assists and Kentlee DesJarden added two aces and four kills.
Hannahville hosts Carney-Nadeau Tuesday. Big Bay hosts Grand Marais in a doubleheader Thursday.