No. 1 stunner: Avondale upset top-ranked Marian in shootout
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
PONTIAC — Andrea Strauss had been there before.
The senior goalkeeper from Auburn Hills Avondale had to stand between the pipes during a shootout with Birmingham Marian last season, which eventually ended in a 1-0 loss to the top-ranked Mustangs, who went on to win the state championship.
Fast forward to this season and Strauss and the Yellowjackets gained a measure of redemption in similar fashion, shocking the state’s top-ranked team, 1-0, in a Division 2 district opener at the Ultimate Soccer Arenas. Again, the game reached a shootout with eighth-ranked Avondale holding a 4-2 edge on penalty kicks to advance to Thursday’s district semifinals against Madison Heights Lamphere.
“It’s unfortunate for them,” said Strauss, who was named an All-State First Team goalkeeper last season. “Now they know what we went through last year. It’s indescribable. It’s the greatest feeling in the world to play your enemy that took you out last year. It’s an unbelievable feeling to do the same thing to them.”
Madison Duncan, Alyssa Johns, Rachel Sonego and Jessica Angell scored in the shootout for Avondale. Marian missed its first and fourth attempts, sending Avondale into mad pile at the top of the box at the end of the shootout.
Through 80 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods, Marian outshot Avondale by a 23-9 margin, including 12-3 with shots on frame, and even held a 9-4 edge on cornerkicks. Each time, Strauss and the defensive unit in front of her were up to task.
Strauss finished with 12 saves for the shutout.
Avondale (15-6-0) changed up its format in recent weeks with a plan on trying to slow the four-time defending Catholic High School League championships, who also won the past two D-2 state championships
“We spent the past couple of weeks preparing for them,” said Muczynski. “We might not have played as well in some of our recent games but a lot of that has to do with changing things up to play them. They like to play the ball on the outside and we had to come up with a plan to stop that.”
This is the first time that Avondale has knocked off the top-ranked team in the girls soccer state tournament. Avondale’s boys team upset Bloomfield Hills Lahser when the Knights were ranked No.1 back in the 2000 season.
“I think this is a huge win,” said Mucynski.
“I thought Alyssa Johns and (Rachel) Sonego were absolutely fantastic in the back, did what they had to do. Marian is a great team,” added Muczynski. “You do not win two state titles by default. We are blessed to beat them.”
Marian (14-3-2) controlled stretches of the first half and held even with the Yellwojackets for most of the second half. During the two overtime periods, Marian carried the play, holding a 9-2 shots edge but struggled to penetrate Avondale’s defense. During overtime, twice Strauss went high to snare lasers out of the sky to thwart the Mustangs.
“I think Andrea demonstrated she is one of the best keepers in the state,” smiled Muczynski. “There’s a couple shots that they got through that I still have no idea how she caught it. There was one that me and my (junior varsity) coach had the angle on it and we literally saw the ball dice through the entire defense and she just caught it like it was nothing. When we tried to talk about it afterwards, she was like, ‘What are you talking about? Which shot?’ That sort of composure she has in the net demonstrates what she’s about.
Veteran Marian coach Barry Brodsky looked at the positives of his program instead of being a first-round upset victim. Marian is 3-1 in state title games in the past nine seasons and has won four straight league championships,
“The seniors that are going out tonight I told them, ‘If somebody would have said when you started, you’re going to have four Catholic League championships and two state championships,’ I’d say, ‘We’ll take it,’” offered Brodsky. “They’ve had a fabulous career. We’re heart-broken, but we’re still pretty darn proud of who we are, how we played and how we represented the school.”
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Category: Auburn Hills Avondale, High School, Prep Wraps
