Novi boys soccer remains undefeated, tops Salem at new field

The Novi Wildcats soccer team took down the Salem Rocks Thursday night on the new turf at Plymouth High School.

It was the first time the Rocks were able to play on the new field, which was just completed in the last week. The two squads stayed close for most of the game, but Novi pulled away late to secure a 3-0 win.

"The first time we played them, we obviously didn't play our best that night so we had this game circled as one we'd like to have in terms of playing much better the second time around," Salem coach Kyle Karns said. "I thought we did well, we switched some things around. Novi is a really good team and we're aware of that. We made some adjustments and the team responded and gave a very good effort, just unfortunately came up short."

The Wildcats are on top of the KLAA West Division by a solid margin with Brighton (6-2-1) and Salem (5-2-3) behind them.

Novi beat Salem earlier in the season 5-0, meaning Novi is the only team in the conference that has beaten the Rocks this season. Nobody has beaten the Wildcats this season, who are 9-0-1 in the KLAA and 10-0-2 overall. 

"The KLAA West to me is the best division in the state and no other division plays teams twice like we do at this level," Novi coach Todd Pheiffer said. "Salem, we knew they were better than the 5-0 game and they showed that tonight. (Salem senior Luke Benford) is phenomenal up top and we had to be aware of where he was. Overall, I thought we did a great job possessing and working the ball around."

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The first goal of the game was scored by Novi senior Bruce Turner with 6:46 to go in the first half. It came after a long half of tight play that saw each team have several scoring chances. 

Turner said his goal allowed the team to relax a bit and gave the team a boost heading into the second half.

"It's relieving," Turner said. "We have a tendency to play better after we score a goal. We scored two more in the second half so it's just more confidence for the team and is relieving. We can play not uptight."

Turner's goal sent Novi into halftime with a 1-0 lead, which could've been bigger if not for a handful of great saves by Salem senior goalie Chris Pohl. In one situation, Novi had three consecutive high quality shots that Pohl made miraculous saves on. Two of the three shots came from Novi junior Shion Soga, who would later score the game's third goal.

"Chris did well," Karns said. "Chris does a good job of keeping us in games and making some huge saves for us. Realistically to knock off some of the top teams in the state, it's going to take a collective effort from everybody. Chris did a great job and I was pleased with the way the boys played."

Wildcat junior Odin Lim scored the game's second goal on a rebound. Pohl made the initial save on Novi senior Blair Mayes' shot, but couldn't recover in time to stop Lim's put-back. 

Salem had a few second half opportunities, but couldn't put anything by Novi's defense. Junior Issac Gibbs played the first half in goal and freshman Ryan Zotkovich played the second half.

"They've both done really well and it's worked for us this year," Pheiffer said. "Both do a great job and they challenge each other at practice every day. They're both getting better and will be back next year."

Pheiffer compared this year's team to the 2016 squad that made it to the state semifinals. He also is keenly aware of what a state title contender looks like, having led the Novi girls soccer team to two straight state championships.

"This team could go undefeated," Pheiffer said. "This team is more than capable of winning a state championship. There's a lot of great teams in this area, just like there are on the girl's side. A lot of things have to go your way."

Playing on new turf

After a long wait, the JV football field on the Plymouth-Canton campus finally has its new turf. Brighton football will play Plymouth on the field Friday night, but it was used for soccer Thursday.

"It's nice, it'll give us an opportunity for the grass field to get a break, given all the park teams that play there," Karns said. "It's nice to open up a new facility over here and get some use out of it."

Novi's Turner said he likes the Novi field better, but that the new turf in Plymouth is one of the best fields they have played on this year.

"I thought it was pretty good," Turner said. "It was pretty slippery, you saw people slipping. I slipped once when I was playing a ball. Overall, I thought it was pretty good. New turf is always nice to play on."

Reach Andrew Vailliencourt at availlienc@hometownlife.com, 810-923-0659. Follow him on Twitter @AndrewVcourt. Send game results and stats to Liv-Sports@hometownlife.com.