The Lakeland men's soccer team played host to the Grand Rapids Raiders today in Region XII action. Lakeland used a strong possession game to control the pace of the game as they defeated the Raiders by a score of 3-0. Both teams had early difficulty breaking through the defense as both defenses forced shots from the outside. With 6:45 to play in the half, the Raiders were whistled for a foul about 25 yards out to the right of the goal. Byron Perez took the direct kick and beat the Raiders netminder in the upper right corner of the goal. The Lakers would hold the 1-0 advantage into the break.

In the 2nd half, the Lakers defense continued to clog the middle and force shots from the outside. The possession game of the Lakers started to wear the Raiders defense down and scoring chances started to develop. At about the 31:30 mark, Lakeland's forward carried the ball down the left side of the field. He was tripped, but was able to maintain possession, and continued to dribble toward the goal. The next Raiders defender then clipped him from behind taking him down in the box. Byron Perez took the penalty kick and calmly scored his second goal of the afternoon. As the Raiders started to try and press offensively, Lakeland's collective team remained calm as they continued to play a possession game. The Lakers would tack on a 3rd goal when Perez had the ball on the right side of the field and centered the ball to Christian Guerra who knocked it in for the final Laker goal.

Dominik Bruketa recorded 5 saves in picking up the shutout for the Lakers. Byron Perez finished with 2 goals and an assist on 6 shots while Guerra added a goal on 4 shots.

Player of the Game: Byron Perez - Coach Torres commented, "Byron scored a big goal early and really helped lead the team with his performance. His brilliant fee kick gave us the confidence and momentum to keep pushing forward!"

Coach Torres Talks: "The team played really well today! The intensity was high from start to finish and we did a great job keeping possession - which is something we've been focusing on in training. Big shoutout to our defense and goalkeeper for earning a clean sheet. We'll keep working so that we can be prepared for another conference match on Saturday."

Next Up: The Lakers travel to Terra State on Saturday to face off against the Titans in an OCCAC match at 11:00 am.