Athens uses deadly combination to burn Stevenson for district crown
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
UTICA — Speed and skill can both be a lethal weapon on the soccer pitch. Combine the two and it can formulate quite a deadly poison.
Sterling Heights Stevenson found that out the hard way Saturday afternoon.
Troy Athens, on the coattails of a 12-0-1 unbeaten streak, blazed past Stevenson, 4-0, in a Division 1 district final at Utica’s Swinehart Stadium.
The Red Hawks used their lethal speed from their skilled players in the midfield and at forward to silence the Titans, last year’s state runner up, in all phases of the game.
“We’ve been really focusing on it in practice, trying to find the right combinations around the box to find the open guy instead of dribbling first,” said senior midfielder Alex Serwatka. “We have been using our speed to our advantage.”
Throughout the past decade, Troy Athens and Sterling Heights Stevenson have had a history of drawing each other in the boys and girls soccer state tournaments. The two rivals were back at it again Saturday.
This time Athens knocked the Titans out of the postseason for the second time in three years.
“We’ve had quite a history with them,” said senior defender Sandy Mouch. “Two years ago we beat them in the district finals and last year they beat us (2-1 in the district opener) before going to the state finals. So it was definitely a game where we really wanted to win.”
Athens’ speed at the wide midfield and forward position wreaked havoc on the Titans the whole afternoon. The Red Hawks ended up posting a 15-7 shots advantage, including 6-2 with shots directly on goal, to go along with a 3-0 edge on cornerkicks.
GETTING AROUND HIS MARK: Troy Athens senior foward Sunny Shettigar maneuvers around Sterling Heights Stevenson's Brad Foley during Saturday's district final. Shettigar netted a hat trick in the Red Hawks' 4-0 triumph. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
Sam Ward notched the team’s eighth shutout, making a pair of saves, as the Red Hawks picked up their second straight shutout of the postseason.
“Their speed did cause us some problems, but they’re skilled, too, and that makes them difficult to defend,” conceded Stevenson coach Bob Mondoux.
Athens took a 1-0 lead with 33:34 still to play in the first half, when Matt Dombrowski got behind his defender and he slipped a cross to the middle where a wide-open Max Klitzke cashed in a close-range shot.
In the second half, Sunny Shettigar netted the hat trick to cap the scoring.
The Cornell-bound senior forward hooked up with Alex Serwatka with 24:38 remaining, retrieving a short pass from Serwatka before slipping past a defender and blasting home a shot from 10 yards out that took the wind out of the Titans’ sail.
“That second goal was the killer, really,” said Mondoux. “It’s tough when you’re not generating many offensive chances and then they go up two (goals) on you. Our kids played hard, I know they wanted to advance further and maybe next year we will. It is what it is. Athens was the better team today.”
The Red Hawks (13-3-2), who have not lost since a Sept. 7 setback to Troy, were not finished yet with the two-goal cushion.
Serwatka set Shettigar up with a breakaway goal with 16:04 left in the game to make it 3-0, then Shettigar capped the scoring with 4:37 left when he banged home a feed from Dombrowski from eight yards out in front of the goal.
Shettigar now has 16 goals on the season, five in the state tournament.
“He has 16 goals in a very tough conference and that’s a lot of goals with the schedule we play,” said first-year Athens coach Todd Huegh.
The veteran Heugh, who owns a state championship as a coach at Rochester High (2002) and as a player at Athens (1989),”is trying to lead the Red Hawks on their longest run since the 1997 season, the last year the Red Hawks’ won a state title in boys soccer.
Heugh replaced his former coach, Tim Storch, in July after Storch retired after 30 seasons with the Red Hawks.
“We wanted to put a little bit of a new spin on the way we played, but still keep that legacy and tradition of this program alive, so it was important for us to do well this year,” said Heugh. “At this point, whatever happens, happens. All the teams left playing are good ones, so it’s just about keeping our focus going forward. I’m excited for our players.”
Athens will advance to the Stevenson regional next Tuesday with a matchup with Livonia Stevenson, a team the Red Hawks already defeated this season, 3-1. Sterling Heights Stevenson ends its season with a 10-4-4 record.
To submit information to www.northoaklandsports.com, e-mail dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com. To advertise, e-mail advertising@northoaklandsports.com . Follow us on Twitter @LocalSportsFans and more than a dozen other social media networks.
Category: High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps, Troy Athens
