OTSEGO, MI –– Alexis Gross and her seven fellow Otsego senior teammates have always yearned for it, but they’ve never known what it’s like to beat their archrival on the pitch. Victories over Plainwell have been hard to come by. But they weren’t leaving Otsego without one. Driven, determined and hungry to flip the script, Otsego girls soccer did just that by jumping on Plainwell (6-3-0) early and burying them late with a 3-1 triumph on Wednesday –– the program’s first victory over its longtime rival in five-plus years. “This feels amazing –– we’ve been working so hard for this every year but each time we’ve always fallen short,” Gross said. “But this is our year, and everyone put it all out there tonight. We were so together as a team, we were so cohesive that even when something went wrong, we got it right back.” The Division 2 No. 12-ranked Bulldogs (9-0-1) remained unbeaten with the win, wasting little time setting the tone by scoring their first two goals in the first and last minutes of the first half to secure significant momentum. The Bulldogs seized the moment, playing together as one. “We talked about it in training yesterday that no matter what happens, we wanted to stay positive with each other and have each other’s backs,” Otsego head coach Levi Butcher said. “I don’t have to get too involved with this group because I trust them, but better yet, they trust each other. “I love this group for that.” Sophomore forward Peyton Johnson started the game off with a bang –– she’d gather a through ball in space and rifle a shot into the bottom left corner for an early lead just two minutes in. Plainwell’s prolific scoring junior forward Alayna Eldred responded with an equalizer at the 13-minute mark, as she’d track down a high-arching through ball and dance away from Otsego goalkeeper Zoe Alkire in depositing a goal into the back left corner. Wednesday saw contrasting styles from both sides: Otsego quickly owned possession in the midfield, with Plainwell seeking out quick counter opportunities with its forwards. Things looked on track to stay level at the half, but an Otsego corner in the final minute proved otherwise. Peyton Dennany’s looping ball dropped into traffic in front of Plainwell’s net, and there to rip the go-ahead goal was Gross –– all with her left foot. “All that was in my head was to just get something on this ball, and that’s what I did,” Gross said. “I’m just so thankful that all my girls were there for me. They’re all playing their best and that’s what really motivates me to work as hard as I can.” Seeing his team score at the beginning and end of the half wasn’t on the drawing board –– but Butcher will certainly take it. “Scoring in the first minute of the first half and the last minute of the first half, you don’t draw it up that way,” Butcher said. “As a coach, you want to have a little steadier lead maybe going into halftime, but I think it was a huge momentum shift and a mentality shift. It was nice to see all the work get rewarded. “It was nice to see Lexi get rewarded for that, too, because being a center back, you don’t get al that many opportunities,” Butcher added. “But she’s our third leading scorer and she just manages the game exceptionally well. It was nice to see her get rewarded for all that hard work.” Otsego remained on the front foot into the second half, controlling possession and stepping through numerous Plainwell passes –– something that was top of mind for Plainwell coach Garry Snyder. “We got to play harder and they beat us to balls tonight,” Snyder said. “They’re a good team and I thought maybe they’d come in a little overconfident and up a goal on them. We got a goal, but the one we gave up right before half really demoralized us.” With just over 10 minutes remaining, sophomore Sydney Timmons lined up a near 30-yard free kick and drove it low into the box. Senior Grace Gerst was there to get just enough of a deflection, redirecting the ball on frame for the game-sealing goal. Which started the celebration out at Otsego. “We all knew that this was something that we really wanted,” Gross said. “No matter what happened, we were going to keep working as hard as we possibly could. Everyone on my team brought their best, they gave it everything they had, and we were able to break them.” After reaching a district title game last season, Otsego is just two games away from wrapping up an outright Wolverine Conference championship this year. Wednesday was the start of a new chapter, one that the Bulldogs will complete together. “We’re a team that’s going to work hard even when the odds are against us,” Gross said. “But most importantly, we’re going to do it together and we always have each other’s backs, no matter what. I think that’s what creates a winning environment because everyone is so positive with each other. We don’t bring each other down, we uplift each other.”