Otsego hosted the Allegan Tigers on Monday evening in what promised to be a passionate, physical, and fast-paced affair. New head coach Aaron Rogers (No, not THAT one) has a different mentality and style to install at Allegan in his first season, and the difference showed in this one early. Physicality and gritty defending have been hallmarks of the Tigers' soccer program, and those things haven't gone by the wayside. Still tough into a tackle, good ball winners, and very competitive, the difference is in how the players carry themselves and what the coaching staff promotes. Hard defending and physicality don't have to come at the expense of sportsmanship. Tough tackles don't need to be followed with chirping and chippy play after the fact. A genuine respect for the opponent, and the game as a whole, was shown Monday night and it is a change that is much appreciated on many fronts. 

Otsego had the better players and capitalized on their chances Monday night, and those factors were the difference. The Bulldog back line played very well after settling into the match, and Senior Ian McClellan's move into the back was key. His service from wide areas, as well as securing the aerial game in the center of defense allowed his side to hold a lead late on. Captains Cole Sallee and Josh Loll were both shown yellow in the second half, but stayed out of trouble and played intelligently in an effort to stay out of the referee's book a second time. Jayden Dentler was only called into action on four occasions in the match, and his first half diving save to his left was both beautiful and crucial to keeping the momentum in favor of his team. Jayden broke the school record for clean sheets in a season in this match, a record that was previously held by Ricky Haagsma and was set during the 2005 season. The only goal of the first half came as Jace Engels rose up for an aerial service deep in the Allegan box and finished on his second try after banging his first off the crossbar. 1-0 Otsego at the half.

The second half was a test of the will and toughness for the Otsego midfielders. Losing out on the majority of 50/50 balls in the first half, as well as being tactically outwitted, the coaches challenged them to get hungry in terms of ball winning and to get the ball on the deck and show their skills. They did just that, and began to bring the forwards into play much more efficiently. Early in the half, Arbnor Kurtishi finished off a ball from Jace Engels after the Allegan keeper vacated his net and committed to coming out and taking the ball off Engels. The match opened up a bit from there with Allegan sending numbers and service forward in an attempt to close the scoring gap. Otsego took advantage of the extra space and began making long dribbling runs through the midfield, challenging the Allegan back line. In the 63rd minute, Josh Loll made a few players miss driving toward the end line to the left of Allegan's goal. The goalkeeper bit once again, and slid just outside his box in an attempt to clear the ball leaving him in no-man's-land once Loll took the ball past him. Saved on the end line with a quick stop turn the ball sat up perfectly for Josh to serve into the six for a gorgeous diving header that scored both the ball and young Jakson Dentler. 3-0 Bulldogs, and a fifth conference win.

The Bulldogs extend their unbeaten streak to 10 matches, which is a new school record that the Bulldogs hope to keep extending. They are also on a 6 match winning streak, one shy of the school record of 7 set in the 2005 season. The Bulldogs also broke the team record for shutouts in a season with their 10th of the year, a record also set by Haagsma and his squad in 2005, which was tied in Coach Butcher's second year by the goalkeeping duo of Kevin Miltenberger and Justin Bender, with a back line led by current assistand coach Trey Moore. Otsego travels to Dowagiac for a 5pm tilt Wednesday.