Men's Soccer Have Much To Work On After Opening Loss

LANSING, Mich. - Soccer is very difficult.

Great Lakes Christian College's re-launched men's soccer program (0-1, 0-1) will limp back to port after a 17-0 thumping from Boyce College (1-3, 1-1) on its maiden voyage on Saturday.

The visiting Bulldogs opened the scoring with a David Woodring goal in the fifth minute, then added four more between the 13th and 18th minutes to open up an insurmountable advantage.

After taking a 7-0 lead to the break, Boyce poured it on in the second, hanging 10 more on the home side over the course of the final 45 minutes. GLCC had a couple of chances down the stretch but were unable to finish them, losing 17-0.

Seven different Bulldogs scored in the game, led by JaeJun Kim's six goals. Boyce put 25 of their 42 shots on frame. Great Lakes took five shots, four of which were on target.

Great Lakes goalkeeper Reese Smith left the match in the second half with an ankle injury and was replaced by Jordan Harrison.

Head coach Ian Kurth didn't pull any punches after the game when describing what his team needs to work on. "I think the big keys for us are... continuing to shore up our defensive shape and structure," he said. "You could definitely tell that Boyce... they're starting to hit form and they were really pulling our guys all over the field. We consistently were getting dragged out of position, and a lot of that just inexperience, being our first game."

Kurth also noted that he saw some cause for optimism. "I thought there were some really good, bright moments for us," he said, "definitely in terms of combination play and ability to connect passes and create chances for ourselves... unfortunately we couldn't get a goal today but there were some really good, positive moments that we can continue to build on as we move forward as a team."

Up Next: Great Lakes will take on NCAA D-III Bluffton on the road in Bluffton, Ohio on Wednesday, September 4th, at 3:30 p.m.