By JEROME MURPHY Argus-Press Sports Writer Sep 20, 2023 Updated Sep 20, 2023 CHESANING — Tuesday’s clash between Mid-Michigan Activities Conference top-shelfers was predictably tight on the scoreboard, with Chesaning besting Byron 1-0 to break a two-way tie for first in the league. But Chesaning dominated in shots on goal, 15-1, and spent most of the night possessing the ball. The message was clear: The Indians are the team to beat this year. Byron and Chesaning shared the MMAC title last season, but it seemed clear even before Wednesday’s clash that the Indians had leaped ahead of the Eagles this year. Both teams had yet to drop an MMAC contest entering Wednesday, but the Eagles had lost four games out of conference to Byron’s one and had had several close calls besides. Chesaning struck quickly vs. Byron, scoring the game’s lone goal just 4 minutes and 50 seconds into the contest. Sophomore midfielder Justin Lange got to a rebound and snuck around the right flank and deposited a point-blank shot, just inside the near post on the right. That would prove to be all of the offense Chesaning needed. Chesaning improved to 11-1 overall and 5-0 in the MMAC while Byron now stands 7-5 overall and 4-1 in the MMAC. It wasn’t the best game that Chesaning has played this season, said coach Tom Dempsey, but it was good enough on this night. “I don’t think we played as good as we could have,” Dempsey said. “I thought that our opportunities were there, [but] we squandered a lot of opportunities. (It was)the pressure of the moment, maybe. We did do a couple of things that were uncharacteristic. We got our first goal when we charged the net off a rebound. But we had two right after that that we didn’t.” Dempsey said that it was unsurprising that Lange was the one to rise above Chesaning’s off night on the attack. “Justin is our best shooter on the team, the most accurate,” Dempsey said. “I would have liked to see him get off his defenseman a little more today. Outside of that, I think he only took one or two more shots. We’re going to work on getting him open in space a little bit more.” Chesaning also hit the crossbar on four or five occasions during the game but sometimes soccer is a game of inches and it applied to both teams. Byron appeared to have tied the game at 1-1 with 11:45 left when Mason Stark fed Elwood Lawler and Lawler got off a quick shot which found the net. However, the play was negated by an offsides call. Another chance for Byron came later, when Stark was penetrated deep inside the Chesaning zone before losing possession after a tangling of bodies. Byron coach Greg Williams said it could have resulted in a penalty kick but there was no call on the play. “No call. That’s a big deal,” Williams said. Williams said that freshman goalie Lincoln Moleski did a yeoman’s job in net to keep Byron in the game. “They had him down at 14 saves for the day but it wasn’t just the saves,” Williams said. “His posture back there (was great) and he was a stud goalie out there today.” Dempsey said, while his team had trouble finishing Tuesday, he had high praise for his team’s midfield play. “I thought our midfield was outstanding,” Dempsey said. “Just the finishing part, between the forwards and the mids, our shots were not good.”