Avondale holds off Notre Dame Prep
LOOKING FOR SPACE: Auburn Hills Avondale's Jessica Creech tries to get past Pontiac Notre Dame Prep's Erica Siatczynski during Saturday's non-league game. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
PONTIAC — How does Auburn Hills Avondale try to respond from having an eight-game win streak snapped? Start a new one.
The Yellowjackets, ranked fourth in Division 2, began that hopeful streak Saturday with a 3-2 non-league victory over host Pontiac Notre Dame Prep. Avondale had dropped a 2-0 decision to Rochester Adams on Thursday to end their month-long winning streak.
“We don’t look at (streaks), although we have been finding ways to win games,” offered Avondale coach Dave Muczynski, whose team will face Division 1 third-ranked Troy Athens on Tuesday. “We as a program, we take it game-by-game, really. We don’t look for winning streaks or anything like that. Sure, they are nice and we hope to keep it going, but that’s not really what we look for. We have a big league Tuesday with (Troy) Athens. We hope to have a good showing there.”
Avondale controlled play for most of the first 45 minutes in building a 3-0 advantage, then held on for life down the stretch after the Fightin’ Irish (10-3-0) began to mount a serious comeback.
“I thought we played a much better second half,” said Notre Dame Prep coach Jim Stachura. “But to be honest, it was the worst game, overall, we played all season. We didn’t execute. That’s not the way we’ve played all year. Teams like Avondale are difficult to play (because) they apply pressure and when you don’t react to that pressure — you’ll have issues. We struggled the first 45 minutes. After that, we played better. But we didn’t have enough to come back and tie it. That’s disappointing.”
ALL TANGLED UP: Auburn Hills Avondale's Xiadani Ruiz (left) and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep's Lauren Jbara collide during Saturday's non-league game. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
Junior Jessica Angell scored just 4:15 into the contest when she redirected a flick into the box by senior Xiadani Ruiz. The lead grew to 2-0 with 7:48 to play in the first half, this time sophomore Jessica Creech getting a foot on a cross from Angell from just inside the penalty box.
Only 1:30 into the second half, freshman Alyssa Chapman buried a penalty kick for a 3-0 Avondale lead after she was tripped up in the box. The Yellowjackets had some difficulty protecting that advantage.
Notre Dame Prep, ranked fifth in Division 3, finally cranked it up offensively after falling into the three-goal hole.
Freshman Taylor Timko, the Fightin’ Irish’s leading scorer this season, created a spark when she laced a blast from 15 yards out following a touch from Gabriella Galloway that eluded Avondale all-state netminder Andrea Strauss with 29:17 to play.
Junior Jennifer Klei cut the deficit to 3-2 with 14:31 still to play, whenever left-footed shot from just inside the 18 found the corner of the net. Senior Taylor Aiello drew the assist.
Notre Dame Prep could not seem to net the equalizer. Avondale has not yielded more than two goals in a game all year.
“We have a lot of experience back there with Strauss in goal and (Regina Nofs) on defense,” said Muczynski. “We know we’re not going to give up a bunch of goals very often.”
Notre Dame Prep, thanks to its second-half surge, outshot Avondale 15-11, with both team firing five shots on frame.
Strauss, a senior, got the win in goal for the Yellowjackets, making three saves. Counterpart, sophomore Alexandra Arnoldy, made two saves for Notre Dame Prep.
“We got a lot of kids in today, which is nice,” said Muczynski. “We played hard and so did Prep, especially after we got up on them three goals. Notre Dame Prep. They struggled in the beginning. Once they picked up their intensity in the second half, they really did a nice job out there. They are a disciplined group and they move the ball around well. I figured that they would come at us in the second half and they did.”
NO ROOM TO OPERATE: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep's Jennifer Klei (left) is greeted by Auburn Hills Avondale's Lauren Kroninger during Saturday's clash. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
Category: Auburn Hills Avondale, High School, Prep Wraps
