Imlay City’s Diego DeLuca (R) battles a Williamston foe for the ball in a Division 3 regional soccer clash last week.
IMLAY CITY — The Imlay City boys’ soccer team (no. 15, Division 3) watched an outstanding campaign reach draw to a close with a 2-1 setback to 13th-rated Williamston in a regional semifinal matchup on Tuesday, October 24.
Atwood Stadium, in Flint, is where the contest unfolded.
With the outcome, Imlay City concludes a 16-5-1 overall season.
The team also went 11-0-1 en route to their eighth straight BWAC title plus won their fourth straight district championship.
“We had a great season considering the bar that was set from last year,” Imlay City Coach Luis Hernandez commented. “For the boys to do something similar even when we graduated tons of seniors is a great accomplishment,” he noted.
“The boys played really well, it was a close game and I wish the outcome would have been different. One mistake does not dictate the outcome of the game overall, we had our chances and they had theirs. We would like to thank the parents and students who supported us through this season. Now we start to focus on next season.
In Tuesday’s matchup, Williamston struck first. That happened when a shot found the back of the net with 1:39 elapsed.
It would take Imlay City just 1:20 to respond to that tally. Xavier Galeana saw to that, capitalizing on a pass by Angel Barragan with 37:01 showing on the first half clock.
The 1-1 scoreboard count would remain unchanged at the half.
Williamston then regained the lead with 2:30 remaining, a 2-1 advantage that would hold up at the finish.
Quintin Ramirez drew the goalkeeping assignment for Imlay City that day. He finished with a 10-save performance.
Kevin Kissane has been covering high school sports for the Tri-City Times since 1985. When not standing on a field or court with his camera and notepad, he enjoys golf, travel and family. Kevin is a 1980 graduate of Capac High School, and is also a grad of St. Clair Community College and earned a degree in journalism from Central Michigan University.
