Plymouth soccer’s ‘Pink Out’ event a success on all levels
Cancer survivor/Pink Out honoree Mary Meier received a rose from each Wildcat player during a pre-game ceremony.
The only thing that could have made the Plymouth boys soccer program’s annual “Pink Out” event even more successful than it was would have been if the singer Pink sang the National Anthem.
Played in a stadium decorated tastefully with pink ribbons — the universal symbol for breast cancer awareness, hope and support for victims — in front of fans wearing pink shirts and pink bandanas, the Wildcats overwhelmed visiting Howell, 6-0.
The winners’ performance was as perfect as the 80-degree/partly sunny skies weather.
Prior to the opening kick-off, a powerful ceremony was held to honor two-time cancer survivor Mary Meier, whose courage throughout a three-year battle with uterine cancer has inspired countless people.
Touching tribute
Meier stood at mid-field and was handed a rose by each Plymouth varsity player — all of whom were accompanied onto the pitch by area youth soccer players.
The Pink Out game has become a treasured tradition of the Wildcats program.
“From a simple piece of ribbon affixed with a pin, we are able to show our support for loved ones battling breast cancer and our hope for a brighter future,” nationalbreastcancer.org explains on its website, revealing the pink ribbon was first introduced in the early-90s.
The actual game couldn’t have gone much better for the Wildcats, who broke a scoreless duel mid-way through the first half on Ethan Ostrander’s rope from near the east sideline.
Back-ups get a chance to shine
With an important KLAA cross-over game set for Friday, the Wildcats started mostly back-ups before the starters debuted late in the first half.
Plymouth doubled its advantage to 2-0 7 minutes before halftime when a free kick from 35 yards out found the right in-step of hard-charging Simon Sherman, who touched the ball to Henry Maitland.
Maitland directed the ball into the net from the doorstep.
Maitland struck again three minutes into the second half when he pounced on a rebound an booted it home to put the hosts up 3-0.
‘Goal’ standard
The rout was completed by goals from Sherman, MJ Roberts (who one-timed a perfect corner kick from Eli Ring into the net) and Ziyad Ali, who capped the night with upper-90 goal off a free kick.
The Wildcats improved to 4-3 in the KLAA West while Howell slipped to 0-7.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
