WEDNESDAY’S DISTRICT ROUNDUP: Davison outs Clarkston in shootout; Grand Blanc blanks Lake Orion; Troy rolls Mott
GRAND BLANC — A steady downpour is the most lethal equalizer in a soccer game. It worked perfect for Davison Wednesday night.
The Cardinals, enjoying one of its best seasons to date, were outshot by a sizable margin by Clarkston during Wednesday’s Division 1 district semifinal at Grand Blanc. Davison fended off the Wolves for all of regulation and two overtime periods before using a shootout to advance to the district finals with a 1-0 victory.
The Cardinals (12-4-4) held a 4-1 edge on penalty kicks to prevail.
“I thought we had nine very good scoring chances in the game,” offered Clarkston coach Chuck Lawhorn. “I thought we held them to only two good chances. They had some other chances from a ways out. But every time we got down inside the 18, we just couldn’t convert. The weather was just horrible and I think that had an effect on everybody. When a game gets to a shootout, it’s everybody’s game. Hats off to Davison because (its defense) held us without a goal.”
Tyler Hodges scored the decisive goal in the shootout for Davison. Spencer Holland, Chris Humphrey and Justin Mulholland also made their penalty shots for the Cardinals.
Jon Miller was the only Clarkston player to convert in the shootout.
Brandon Gonzales finished the night with 10 saves to gain the shutout. Trevor Smith had five saves in a losing effort for Clarkston (12-12-0).
GRAND BLANC 4, LAKE ORION 0: Grand Blanc scored just 34 seconds into the contest and tacked on two goals before the match was even e0 minutes old in dispatching Lake Orion in this Division 1 district semifinal at Grand Blanc.
File Photo | Dan Stickradt
Only the ninth-ranked Bobcats (16-4-0) could muster any firepower.
Grand Blanc will host Davison, a 1-0 shootout winner over Clarkston in the first semifinal Wednesday, for the district championship at 4 p.m. Friday. Grand Blanc defeated Davison in a last year’s district title match.
“I know the weather was horrible and nobody really wanted to play in that, but only one team played like it,” said Lake Orion coach Matt Paukovits. “We didn’t come to play at all. We gave up a goal 34 seconds in and it was 3-0 at the half. I am disappointed because we didn’t show up.
“It was hard to warm up for it because the first game went through two overtimes and a shootout in the first game and we had to wait two hours for our game to start,” added Paukovits. “But it was the same for both teams. They came to play and we didn’t.”
Chris Sullivant scored twice for Grand Blanc, including the goal in the first minute of play, which proved to be the game-winner. Yamann Sahlool and Brian Winterfield also scored for the Bobcats, while Sahlool also drew an assist.
Lewis Jones made five saves for the shutout for Grand Blanc.
TROY 3, WATERFORD MOTT 0: Troy scored twice in the first half and added a second-half goal to advance to Friday’s Division 1 district championship game with this shutout of Waterford Mott.
The Colts will Birmingham Brother Rice in the district finals at 4 p.m., also at Troy.
Ian Fox and Filip Buniewicz both scored unassisted goals in the first half to pace the sixth-ranked Colts (17-2-1). A.J. Kalina finished off a feed from Buniewicz in the second half to cap the scoring.
Matt Smolinski and Craig Duggan combined for just two saves for the team’s 15th shutout of the season. Troy has yielded only nine goals in 20 games this season.
Austin Meredith made seven saves in a loss for Mott, which finished 5-11-4.
MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
GLADWIN SKEELS CHRISTIAN 10, LAKE ORION BAPTIST 9: The Eagles advanced in this wild first-round game of the Michigan Association of Christian Schools Division I contest played at Saginaw Community Baptist. The two teams combined for 19 goals, one of the highest single-game totals posted by two teams in one tournament game in the 31 years of the MACS state tournament.
Category: Clarkston, High School, High School (M-Z), Lake Orion, Prep Wraps, Troy
