Early goals help Oakland Christian soar past Marlette
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
AUBURN HILLS — Quick strikes have become an additional weapon for Auburn Hills Avondale.
Already a well-balanced top-10 teams with a great tradition of successful teams in boys soccer, the Lancers have scored goals in the first 10 minutes of each of their four tournament state games, and it has aided a berth in Saturday’s regional finals.
Oakland Christian, ranked eighth entering the postseason, scored in the first minute and that helped the Lancers topple visiting Marlette, 5-1, Tuesday in a Division 4 regional semifinal.
Fifth-ranked Saginaw Valley Lutheran will tangle with Lansing Christian in Wednesday’s second semifinal with the regional finals set for 11 a.m. Saturday at Oakland Christian.
“We came out and scored in the first minute again and that forces the other team to play from behind right from the beginning,” said Oakland Christian coach Caleb combs. “We have been doing that in all of our tournament games. We’ve scored in the first five minutes in each game. It gives us some momentum and allows us to set the tempo.”
Senior Spencer Hodges scored just 27 seconds into the game off a pass from sophomore John Van Noord.
Senior Drew Perrin pushed up on a set piece and his diving header off a Chris Polite free kick with 23:30 to
Oakland Christian (17-4-1) only outshot Marlette 8-6 in the first half, but were able to tack on two more goals before halftime.
Daniel Smith made it 3-0 when he finished off a fee from Van Noord with 18:59 to go before the half, and Perrin volleyed in a cornerkick from Polite with 4:45 left before the break to give the Lancers a 1-0 cushion.
Marlette, whose soccer program is less than a decade old and was making its first regional appearance, came out and scored a goal 56 seconds into the second half to give the Lancers a taste of their own medicine. The deficit was too much for the Red Raiders (13-3-1) to overcome.
“I thought that this team played as hard as any team we’ve seen this year. They really worked hard and it was not easy for us,” said Combs. “Even when we were up (four goals at the half), they came right out and scored on us early in the second half. They didn’t back down and never gave up. We needed that.”
“We lost in this round (regional semifinals) last year to Southfield (Christian) and we know that should not have happened,” said Combs. “I think we’ve been coming out of the gate lately with some hunger.”
Oakland Christian capped the scoring with 35:15 left when Josh Miller, who just returned from a dislocated knee, set up Clifford Baxter with a breakaway goal with 35:15 left in the contest. The Lancers outshot the Red Raiders 14-8.
“We’ve been taking a little bit of a different approach this season,” admitted Combs. “Last year we looked too far ahead and we ended up getting beat. All season long, we’ve only been concerned with our next game and it has worked. We haven’t looked past anybody. We have four losses this year and those were all to quality teams. In every game that we won, we didn’t take anything for granted like the past couple of years.”
Luke Combs made seven saves for the win in goal for Oakland Christian, which is one win away from its seventh Final Four in 18 years. The Lancers’ defense also shut down Marlette 28-goal scorer Mike Boyne.
Jacob Kipp made nine saves in goal for Marlette, which started three freshmen.
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Category: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps
