By DAWN PARKER Argus-Press Staff Writer Sep 12, 2023 ELSIE — Roughly halfway through the 2023 boys soccer season, Chesaning has yet to taste defeat. The Indians came close once, needing a shootout to topple Saginaw Valley Lutheran at the Durand Invitational on Aug. 26, but outside of that have dominated their foes. On Tuesday, Chesaning blasted Ovid-Elsie 7-0 to pick up its ninth win of the year and improve to 3-0 in Mid-Michigan Activities Conference play — in which the Indians have 21 goals for, zero against. Against the Marauders, Chesaning grabbed control of the game early and never looked back, taking a four-goal lead into intermission, before salting things away with three more markers in the second half. Chesaning’s offense came from everywhere. Junior striker Zach Harlan led the Indians with a pair of goals, while senior midfielders Zach Garno, Blake Laskowski and Nate Ferry, along with sophomore midfielder Justin Lange and junior midfielder Aiden Trzil each tallied one score. That kind of attacking balance has been a hallmark of Chesaning’s play so far this season, Indians coach Tom Dempsey said. Seventeen of the 22 players on Chesaning’s roster have scored at least once, Dempsey said. “That’s something we’ve been striving for,” he added. Wednesday’s match was the two teams’ first meeting since 2020, when O-E prevailed 2-1. The Marauders did not have enough players to field a soccer team each of the last two seasons. Although this year’s crop of young Marauders — a mix of underclassmen bolstered by three foreign exchange students — has yet to notch its first win, Chesaning’s Dempsey is glad to see them back in the fold. “It’s good to have Ovid-Elsie and Montrose (playing for the first time since 2019) back in the conference,” he said. “It’s nice to see teams being added instead of taking away.” Chesaning’s strong start in has it in the driver’s seat for a second consecutive MMAC title, though the Indians have yet to play last year’s runner-up and 2021 champ Byron (currently 4-4, 2-0). O-E coach Chris Parker said he saw some good things from his players on Tuesday, especially immediately after the break. “The first 22 minutes of the second half was the best we’ve looked,” Parker said. “It looked like we were finally starting to put it together.” Seeing steady success will mean having the skill to stop doing one thing, “Silly mistake after silly mistake puts us behind the 8-ball,” Parker said. Both teams will get right back in the fray. Chesaning faces a big challenge today at home against Alma, while the Marauders will return home to play Montrose on Wednesday.