Decatur Varsity Boys Soccer Defeat Clarkston 2-0

After a one hour delay due to a thunderstorm that passed through and drenched a small area which happened to include downtown Decatur, the game between Decatur and Clarkston got underway. Thank goodness for field turf, without which the game would have been a mud bath or cancelled outright.

Decatur has played solid soccer all season, and shown potential to be a very good team. On this night they were clearly the better side, and simply needed to go out and take care of business. Not always an easy thing to do, but something good teams must do.

The first half started out fairly evenly, but after a couple of minutes Decatur took control. Keeping the ball in front of the Clarkston goal yielded shots by Jacob McAdoo, Nick Oshinski and Willie Mosley, along with several corners and a hard shot on goal by Wilson Witherspoon. About fifteen minutes in, Decatur was rewarded when John Speed slipped a pass through the Clarkston defense and Jacob McAdoo crushed it into the upper right corner of the net. Decatur 1-0.

The remainder of the half saw Decatur dominate play, with several additional shots by McAdoo which were close but didn’t find the net, one being the result of a very nice long ball by Jason Barefoot which led to a counterattack and a good chance for a score. Andrew Beck played a solid first half in goal, recording a couple of nice saves along the way.

The second half retained some drama, as Decatur was unable to add a second goal despite controlling play. This meant that any mistake could turn a win into a very disappointing tie. Play stayed fairly clean, although Mac Speed, a solid contributor as always at left back, took an elbow to the face and went down at one point. Fortunately it was not serious, although Clarkston took advantage to continue play and get a good shot on goal. However, Jackson Bailey, in for the second half at goalie, was up to the challenge and made a nice save.

As the game wound down, Decatur kept the pressure on and got off a slew of shots, with success finally coming with around three minutes left as Wilson found Nick Huber on a breakaway and Nick converted for the final 2-0 score. Once again Wilson and John Speed were excellent in the midfield. They work very well together, and continually find their teammates for good opportunities. The defense is solid and there is some scoring punch as well. This Decatur team is fun to watch.