By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
It’s still early in the Rock Valley Conference boys soccer race, but with McFarland perfect to this point, there is little room for error.
And, while it may have taken a little longer than they hoped, Big Foot did just what it needed to do Tuesday night to keep pace.
Big Foot, which last year won the school’s first RVC title since 1995, improved to 3-1 in the RVC and 7-5 overall.
McFarland leads the standings at about the halfway point of the conference schedule at 5-0, followed by Evansville at 5-1 and the Chiefs at 3-1.
The only goal Tuesday night against East Troy came off the foot of Freddie Mannelli, who scored unassisted at the 1:13 mark.
And that was all the offense there was, as the Chiefs held on.
Lars Larsen finished the night with four saves for the Chiefs.
The win followed a 3-0 non-conference victory Saturday over visiting Elkhorn.
Big Foot led 1-0 at halftime and added two more goals in the second half.
Hamilton Smith put the Chiefs on the scoreboard at the 38-minute mark, followed by Mannelli at the 47-minute mark and Chris Oliver at 1:28. All three goals were unassisted.
Goalie Jon Turpel had five saves for the Chiefs.
Big Foot opened its week with a 1-0 non-conference loss Sept. 10 to visiting Racine Case. Larsen had seven saves, while Turpel had one.
The Chiefs are back in action Monday night with a key RVC matchup against McFarland.
