04/27/2007

TC West, Petoskey play to a 1-1 deadlock

Burmeister scores tying goal for Titans

BY JAMES COOK

jcook@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/Tyler Sipe
Petoskey's Kelly Robbins, left, and TC West's Marian Schubert battle for possession.

TRAVERSE CITY — Sometimes they are black and white.

Sometimes not.

This time, after a 1-1 deadlock, it was black and white for Petoskey, and a little bit more of a gray area for Traverse City West.

"There's good ties and bad ties,” Petoskey coach Scott Batchelor said. "This was a good tie.”

West stayed undefeated for the season and in the league, but missed an opportunity to pick up three points instead of one.

"The girls played very well tonight,” Titans coach Jim Sullivan said. "They were technically sound. But it's very difficult to play on a wet night. A tie is better than a big 'L'.”

Petoskey (2-2-1, 1-1-1 Big North Conference) took a 1-0 lead with 33:01 left in the second half, as Courtney Gullon headed in the deflection of a Katharine Fought direct kick.

After that, TC West turned it on, controlling much of the game the rest of the way.

"Especially toward the end of the game, they were generating some good chances,” Batchelor said.

Finally, the Titans broke through, when Courtney Burmeister blasted a direct kick straight into the goal with 8:58 remaining.

"I saw the wall was directly in front of their goalie and I tried to get it around them because I knew she wouldn't see it coming,” Burmeister said.

Emily Entz had a somewhat quiet night, making four saves. Her counterpart — Morgan Murphy — was forced to be a little more active as the Northmen were badly outshot much of the contest.

The Titans (4-0-1, 2-0-1) play in the Midland Dow Invitational this Saturday, playing East Lansing at noon and then the host Chargers at 2 p.m.

"They should be pretty good teams to prepare us for (TC) Central,” Burmeister said.

West then travels to Cadillac on Tuesday before facing TC Central on Thursday.

In the JV match, Carolyn Vlach and Maddisen Coil each scored one goal and assisted on another as the West Green JV edged Petoskey 4-3. Caitlin Lynch and Megann Karch also tallied for the Titans. Alison Shrift assisted on the Coil goal.

Alyse Tucker and Taylor Ross shared goaltending duties. Melanie Reed starred defensively.