The boys hosted their conference opener on Wednesday night and Bulldog Stadium was lively and loud, a trend that the players and coaches hope continues! The players fed off the energy of the supporters and student section during key moments of this huge clash between conference front runners. Thanks to all our supporters for the great energy and spirit you showed!

The match itself was certainly a hard fought battle with numerous memorable challenges and tackles flying in. Otsego got on a break 14 minutes in, and a Paw Paw defender hauled Jakson Dentler down from behind just outside the box. The player was issued a red card as he was the last man back denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity, and the Bulldogs would play a man up the rest of the way. Paw Paw looked the more willing of the two sides to challenge for balls in the air throughout the first half, and won a good deal of the possession because of it. Otsego opened the scoring just before halftime, with the left foot of Sophomore midfielder Coleton Hutchinson finding the net off a corner kick.

The second fram began with Paw Paw showing new energy to go forward even being down a man. The Otsego back line soaked up a few early attacks, and goalkeeper Jayden Dentler was called into action twice as well. The match opened up from there with both teams looking for a goal, one team looking for the leveler and the other looking for the dagger that would effectively finish the game.

In the 60th minute Paw Paw again saw red, and were reduced to nine men. Otsego failed to control the ball and seemed to waste valuable opportunities to put the match away due in part to poor tactical awareness. One thing is certain, however... The Dawgs were going to put in a shift defensively and protect their lead. The elder Dentler went to work and made a couple huge saves in the final 8 minutes to keep his sheet clean. Players were getting stuck in, winning balls in the air, and putting their body on the line for the cause. Paw Paw's keeper came off his line and made a great play to slide through an onrushing Jack Waters and keep the match at 1-0. The last 10 minutes had everything a soccer fan would want, aside from another goal!

The match ended at 1-0 and Otsego picked up the Wolverine Conference victory. Man of the Match honors (The first handed out this season) went to Jayden Dentler who made 8 saves in goal to keep the clean sheet. Otsego travels to Coldwater tonight to take on last season's D2 state semifinalist Cardinals. Kickoff is set for 6:30pm.