By Jack Walker
For the first time this season the Grand Rapids Community College men’s soccer team is in the win column, defeating Jackson College Wednesday afternoon in a lopsided 7-0 game. Six different players were on the goalsheet, with sophomore forward Elijah Maas scoring twice. It was by far the Raiders best performance of the season, as the team had not scored more than twice in a game before entering Wednesday’s contest. The win moved GRCC to 1-3-1 on the season, avoiding defeat in two consecutive games.
From the start, the game was dominated by GRCC, with the Raiders getting on the board first courtesy of a goal by freshman defender, Cameron Burnash, giving him his first goal of his career. Just four minutes later GRCC struck again, with a goal by Maas, who was assisted by freshman midfielder Samuel Himmelspach.
The third goal was sparked by a fantastic run from freshman forward Elvin Bajric, who took on and dribbled past multiple Jackson defenders, before finally laying off a through ball to sophomore midfielder Cristian Diaz, who slotted the ball away in the top right corner to increase the lead to 3-0 Raiders.
By halftime GRCC had already scored their most goals in a game this season, and it didn’t stop there, with the Raiders continuing their dominant stretch into the second half.
First on the scoresheet for GRCC in the second half was freshman forward Sean Gieske via a penalty kick, after taking a hard foul in the box. Followed by Gieske was once again Maas, beating the keeper one-on-one to increase the lead to 5-0.
It was only a matter of time before Bajric found himself among the teams goal scorers against Jackson, beautifully putting the ball into the top corner, leaving the opposing goalkeeper no chance to save it.
The last goal of the day was assisted by Gieske, who dribbled near the sidelines, but managed to keep the ball in play to find freshman midfielder Rodrigo Perez, who slotted the ball into the back of the net. At this point in the game, frustrations were boiling for the Jackson defense, who let the sideline referee hear their opinions on whether the ball went out-of-bounds or not. But in the end, the referee stood by his official decision, letting the goal stand to make it 7-0 GRCC.
Before the game against Jackson, GRCC had recorded only 16 shots on target and scored just four goals all season. Against Jackson, the Raiders finished with 17 shots on target and scored seven, the team’s best attacking performance all season.
“I’m happy, I think they played more as a team, that’s something we’ve been working on, understanding it’s not one person that makes a win, it’s a team effort,” said second year head coach Damiekco Smith while sharing his thoughts on the team’s performance.
Defensively, it was another very strong game for GRCC, allowing just one shot the whole match that was easily saved by sophomore goalkeeper Brett Miller.
“Our defense has been strong all year, I’ve not had any issues,” said Smith. “One of our best players is out, and somebody has to be the next man up, and they’ve done a good job.”
It was an unusual performance against Jackson given how the start of the season had gone for GRCC, Smith shared what he thought had changed leading into Wednesday’s performance.
“Trying to get more discipline, there’s a lack of discipline on this team, a lack of maturity on this team,” Smith said. “It’s something we should be working on.”
The Raiders will try and carry the momentum of their seven-goal outburst into their next match against Cuyahoga Community College in Highland Hills, Ohio.
GRCC was able to defeat Cuyahoga last season in a close 2-1 battle. The game will be played on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 1 p.m.
