Plymouth blanks Chiefs for 2nd straight statement-making win

  Plymouth's soccer team was a lot like the wind Tuesday night: strong and relentless.

  Less than a week after registering a 3-2 victory over state power Northville, the Wildcats shut out Canton, 3-0, in both teams' KLAA South Division opener.

  "We have 12 returning seniors, guys who have played together and become friends for the past four years, so coming in, we felt like we could be pretty good," said Derek Austin, who scored the Wildcats' second goal and assisted on the first. "Everybody played exceptionally well tonight."

  On a night when wind gusts hit close to 40 miles per hour, Plymouth improved to 4-1-2 overall and 1-0 in the division while the Chiefs, who are ranked No. 10 in Division 1, slipped to 4-2-1.

  "We have a lot of seniors on this club who are ready to have some success," said Plymouth coach Jeff Neschich. "Everybody's been talking up other teams, but I knew we'd be good.

  "There are a lot of good teams out there, especially this Canton team. We'll take this one, but we have to play them again. When we do, I know they'll be greatly improved."

  The Wildcats were bolstered by an inspired performance from junior back-up goal-keeper Rene Mejia, who recorded his first varsity shutout against a team loaded with explosive forwards.

  Mejia made a pair of Wow!-inducing saves in the game's final minute to keep the shutout intact.

  "We needed Rene to be great tonight and he was," said Austin. "He played exceptionally well."

  The Chiefs played a strong first half despite what their 2-0 deficit may have indicated.

  "I'm very disappointed, especially because we played such a quality first half," said Canton coach George Tomasso. "We just didn't do the little things that you need to do to be successful -- things we had been doing up to this point in the season.

  "The boys need to step up and make sure they're marking in the box to eliminate our opponents' opportunities. And we need to eliminate turnovers in the mid-field. That would have taken care of their first two goals tonight. The third one was because we were pushing up and Russ hit a really nice shot."

  Canton nearly struck gold in the game's opening minute when Mitch Posuniak slid a slick pass to Nathan Bergeson, whose well-struck shot went wide of the left post by no more than a foot.

  The Chiefs threatened again in the game's 15th minute when Phil Baciak rifled a rising shot that Mejia knocked down. As Baciak sprinted toward the loose ball, Mejia hit the ground to smother the dangerous sphere.

  Moments later, Plymouth's Josh Priebe broke the scoring ice when he pounded home a rebound off an Austin shot to make it 1-0 'Cats.

  Austin doubled his team's lead 7:38 before halftime when he dribbled past a Canton defender near mid-field and ripped a hooking missile that bounced over Canton keeper Brandon Laabs and into the netting.

  "I saw their defense drop off a little bit," Austin recounted. "I dribbled up and beat one of their defenders, I saw I had an open shot and took it. I wanted to put something on the net and try to test their keeper, and I guess I did. It took a nice hop for me."

  Joey Klonowski came within inches of padding the Wildcats' lead to 3-0, but his laser from 30 yards out banged off the cross-bar.

  Posuniak made a solid run at the net with 2:10 left in the half, but Plymouth's Mitch Vaughn defused the scoring chance with a stellar defensive effort.

  Fifteen seconds later, Canton's Bryan Berinti ripped a shot from 12 yards out that Mejia snared.

  Canton's final first-half push came with 58 seconds left when Bobby Budlong sent a header just a couple feet over the cross-bar.

  Budlong dinged the bar 30 seconds into the second half.

  The game's most spectacular goal unfolded with 8:11 left when senior captain Nick Russ steered the ball around a pair of defenders before unleashing a rope that found its target from 35 yards out.

  "That was just a great individual effort by Nick," said Neschich.

  Mejia earned his shutout by deflecting a well-struck Budlong shot from the doorstep with 1:01 to play.

  Plymouth returns to action Wednesday night at Livonia Churchill.

  To view a two-minute clip of Tuesday's game click on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwwYswBuWbs

  Ed Wright can be reached at (734) 453-1980 or info@plymouthcantonsports.com.


Plymouth's Brent Zuzo and Canton's Mitch Posuniak battle for possession of the ball. (Ed Wright photo)

Nick Russ (22) scored Plymouth's third goal. (Ed Wright photo)

Phil Baciak heads the ball away from Plymouth's Zach D'Agostino. (Ed Wright photo)

Plymouth's Joey Klonowski taps the ball away from a hard-charging Nathan Bergeson. (Ed Wright photo)

Canton's Bobby Budlong (20) was dangerous all night. (Ed Wright photo) 

The Wildcats celebrate after Josh Priebe (23) scored the game's first goal. (Ed Wright photo)