It’s a rivalry that has been one-sided for quite some time, but it’s a rivalry nonetheless. When Bay City Western and Bay City Central meet on the soccer pitch, the history of the series doesn’t matter. Both teams come to play and give it their all. On Wednesday, it was Western who came out on top, 4-0, for their sixth straight shutout over the Wolves. “With the rivalry, they kind of get tunnel vision. You can throw out the records at that point,” Western coach Jeff Swartz said. “They like to play against their friends. They’re talking before the game and hanging out after. But it’s not like that during the game, for sure. There was a lot of good shoulder-to-shoulder action.” The victory gives Western a commanding 38-4-5 advantage in the all-time series and keeps the Warriors undefeated against the Wolves since 2011. However, it was not an easy win. Central played a tough game, especially in the second half, and kept Western from scoring for over 40 minutes. “We knew Central would be geared up and ready for it,” Swartz said. “They had us on our heels a little bit on defense.” Western (8-2-1, 3-1-1) was able to take advantage of its early opportunities to build a 3-0 lead by halftime. But, despite peppering the goal throughout the second half, the Warriors could get just one more ball past Central’s Delaney Hopkins. Hopkins, the team’s leading scorer the past two seasons, filled in at keeper due to injury and registered a eye-popping 27 saves in the contest. “We needed a little more urgency in the first half and we didn’t bring it until the second half,” Central coach Brandon Hopkins said. “The girls didn’t come away angry. They knew they played hard. Things didn’t go as planned, but I’m not unhappy with their effort. That’s the one thing you can control.” Central (3-7-1, 0-4-1) lost to Western 8-0 and 7-0 a year ago and proved to be a much-improved team this time around. But Western is also starting to make progress. After losing several key players to graduation, the Warriors have won six straight games and are starting to find their identity. “We’re trying to get that identity, I don’t know if we’re there yet,” Swartz said. “We’re not going to win a lot of shootouts, so we’ve got to get back to being a defensive-minded team. We work on that every game, playing as a unit. If one player makes a mistake, we want two or three back there cleaning it up. “We’re getting close, we’re putting it together.” Western and Central could possibly meet one more time this season. Both teams are assigned to the Division 2 district hosted by Mount Pleasant.
Bay City Western Extends Rivalry Dominance with 4-0 Victory Over Bay City Central
