The Crimson boys’ soccer team will face Male this Wednesday Sept. 8. This game should be an absolute landslide. Manual has too much talent on the offensive side of the ball with Dylan Barth (11, #9) and Henry Jelsma (11, #54) leading the offensive strike.  The Crimson offense is very good at controlling the ball and constantly moving to the open space on the field to get an open shot on goal.

“I play up top and my job is to have a nose for the goal, and Dylan and I work off of each other when we play, passing is key to our offense,” Jelsma said.

The Crimson offense is geared up towards passing through defenders, and the team has shown they do that on a regular basis. Riley Hook (12, #8) has a knack for finding his open teammates and feeding the ball to the offense in open space for a shot on goal.

“Our offense works a lot on passing and that’s what we are trying to get done for the Male Manual game,” Hook said after the Crimsons routed St. Francis 8-0 on Sept. 1.

The Male/Manual soccer game has historically been a closely contested game, and this year should be no different.  While Male does not have the talent level Manual has, the match will still be closely contested and will come down to a difference of one goal.  

My prediction is that Manual will score two unanswered goals in the first half and Male will fire back with two goals to start the second half. Hook will take the ball up the field to get a pass to Jelsma for an open shot on goal,  Manual will win by a narrow margin of 3-2.

The Crimsons and the Bulldogs will face off at 7 p.m. Wednesday night, at Male High School. Follow @theCSPNSports on Twitter and stay tuned to RedEye for coverage of the match.