Auburn Riverside soccer wins convincingly over Kentwood

With the Auburn Riverside Ravens moving up to 4A, one of the more interesting sports was going to be girls soccer. Since the pandemic, the Ravens girls soccer team has been the most successful program at Auburn Riverside.

They have now passed their first test with flying colors. After a 1-1 draw against Kentridge earlier in the week, the Ravens beat Kentwood handily, 3-0, on Sept. 26 at home.

Coming in, Kentwood had the better resume and their wins over Tahoma and Stadium were momentous wins. But the Ravens were coming in hotter, with a late goal to draw against Kentridge, and Kentwood losing 1-0 to Kennedy Catholic.

“3-0 is an incredible response. The energy level and desire to be first to the ball made all the difference in the game,” said Riverside Manager Paul Lewis.

Kentwood had been on a scoring tear as of late — in its two wins, a total of 13 goals. Auburn Riverside junior Layla Bejar made sure that there were no chances for the Conks.

“The whole team gets a ton of confidence just from knowing how steady she is,” Lewis said.

The Ravens got going early. Keely Kliewer scored her second goal in as many games in the eighth minute with an “Olimpico” goal — a goal scored directly off of a corner kick without contact by another player. She took the corner and Caitlyn Riggs boxed a Kentwood defender out and the ball just curled right in.

“It set the tone by setting the incentive to get more and more… It was a team effort (to get the first goal),” Kliewer said.

Kliewer is listed as a defender/forward on the roster. Against Kentwood, she played a majority of left back, but her history as a forward gives her a unique insight and experience to score some much needed goals.

“We know she is a quality goal-scorer. We want to get her on the ball as much as possible in the attacking third. On a set piece everytime I tell her, if she wants to get an Olimpico, go for it,” Lewis said.

“She looks for those opportunities to get forward if she can. She can be really dangerous on set pieces.”

In the first half, Kentwood had just two shots with none on target. Bejar played a big part in stopping the Kentwood attack that relied so heavily on the counter. “She’s so good. She’s a real dominant player in the back. She does everything,” Kliewer said.

But another part was freshman Sydney Winters who didn’t have to make any crazy saves but played like an upperclassman. The first year keeper in her fifth start of the season had some key closeouts and was very comfortable with the ball at her feet. “She’s very, very good. When we need her to get on the ball, she has her feet on the ball. She’s really good at passing out of the back and getting it to the forwards,” Kliewer said.

For most teams, having a freshman start in goal is not normal. To have that freshman record three clean sheets in her first five starts? Also not normal. But for Auburn Riverside, it is strangely normal because former keeper Rory Murray started when she was a freshman and had five shutouts of the seven games in the COVID season.

Now that Winters is back there, the trend continues.

“The quality of good goal keepers is someone who doesn’t get too mental. She does feel the expectations a little bit, then once the whistle starts and she’s playing it doesn’t matter anymore. For us, it is really exciting,” Lewis said.

The Ravens went into halftime with a 1-0 lead and came out with a new energy and really applied pressure to Kentwood in the midfield area. That press allowed Natalie Fish free down the sideline and her shot on goal leaked through the Kentwood keepers hands in the 60th minute.

Ten minutes later the Ravens threatened again and instead of scoring this time Kliewer dished an assist. She sent a cross in front of the Kentwood keeper’s face and Lexie Markham got it with her thigh, foot and eventually got he ball across the line.

This was a measuring stick game for the Ravens, a win they didn’t had to have but a win that asserts themselves in the standings. “The league has a lot of parity. There are a lot of teams that are capable to win every night,” Lewis said.