SHELBY – There was no doubt who was the better team on the field, Friday, Aug. 23 when Shelby’s boys soccer team throttled Reed City to the tune of an 8-0 victory.
After going 0-2-1 in their initial action of the 2024 season, the Tigers were in dire need of something positive. Shelby’s third game was an 8-0 loss to Alma, a team that finished as an MHSAA D3 semifinalist in 2023.
“Yesterday we played against Alma and last year they were state semifinalists and before that, Kent City looked great,” Shelby head coach Damian Gonzalez said. “Reed City has a lot of heart, but luckily we were able to find an opponent where we could implement some of the things we’ve been trying to practice on. This served as a good enough trial.”
The competition that welcomed them at their home field on Friday wasn’t quite at that level. Reed City was a team that finished 9-10 last year, but in 2024 the Coyotes have yet to score a goal through four games.
With a weaker opponent in front of them, the chances for Shelby to earn its first win under first year head coach Gonzalez seemed sky high. The Tigers’ hopes were realized almost immediately as the team snagged momentum and never let go.
With less than three minutes ticking off the clock in the first half, Shelby struck on a goal from sophomore Venancio Cadena Arvizu. Assisting Cadena Arvizu was junior Alex Dealmonte, starting an offensive onslaught for the Tiger striker.
Dealmonte followed up the assist with consecutive goals over the next 17 minutes, putting Shelby in front of Reed City, 3-0. Senior Alvin Espinosa was just as effective, assisting Dealmonte on both of those goals.
“These first few weeks we’ve been working a lot on technique,” Damian Gonzalez said. “We’ve been trying to get the ball out wide and make those runs out wide. We seemed to do really well with that today.”
With just 20 minutes having passed in the first half and a 3-0 lead, the Tigers could sniff a blowout victory. Not resting on their laurels, the offense pushed the pace of the game and extended their lead to 7-0 before the first half had come to a close.
Scoring in the final 20 minutes of the first half were junior Sammy Castro, Dealmonte, and seniors Jonny Gonzalez and Nathan Miller.
Miller’s goal was one that shocked Damian Gonzalez in particular as the Shelby senior typically resides on the defensive back line. That didn’t stop Miller from pushing forward on a corner kick opportunity, finding the ball mid-air and using his head to push it across the goal line.
The 7-0 score at the end of the first half was close to shutting the game down early, as an eighth goal would spell a mercy rule victory for Shelby. That didn’t work out before time expired in the first half, but it didn’t take long for the Tigers to get going in the second half.
An eighth and final goal was scored after just two and half minutes had passed in the second half. Caden Arvizu made it a multi-goal game, notching his second on an assist from junior Eli Kelley to finish the night’s proceedings early.
The win pushed Shelby to a 1-2-1 overall record, but more importantly it provided Shelby with some confidence as they tumble full force into a challenging conference schedule.
“(This win) is pretty big. The boys need it and Montague is looking pretty good,” Damian Gonzalez said. “That’s going to be a big test.”
That conference schedule began with Montague, Monday, Aug. 26. While Shelby battled the Wildcats close, even taking a 1-0 lead early in the second half, Montague came away with a 2-1 win to push the Tigers to 0-1 in the West Michigan Conference.
