BOYS SOCCER: Rochester Hills Christian edges Davison Faith on PKs to advance to MACS finals

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BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

Twitter: @LocalSportsFans

ROCHESTER HILLS — It was a year ago that Rochester Hills Christian edged Davison Faith Baptist on penalty kicks in the Michigan Association of Christian Schools Division I boys soccer finals.

The two met on the tournament stage again this week, this time in the state semifinals — and with the same result.

Rochester Hills Christian went to a shootout Thursday before escaping with a 2-1 victory over visiting Davison Faith Baptist. The host Eagles prevailed 3-2 in the shootout, with Jesse Montgomery, Ryan Patton and Christian Oly converting their penalty kicks to send RHC into the final round.

Rochester Hills, the defending champs and ranked No. 1, will face Midland Calvary Baptist, at 1 p.m. Saturday in the state title match at Clarkston Springfield Christian. The Eagles are going after their first back-to-back state titles since winning four straight MACS crowns from 1989-92.

TITLE GAME -: Rochester Hills Christian’s Jesse Montgomery and the Eagles advance to the MACS Division I state title game for the third straight season. Photo | Amy Zolno.

“Our goal all along was to get back to the championship game and win it all again,” said RCH coach Jerry Slota. “With all of the seniors we have, anything else would be a letdown.”

The Eagles, who feature nine seniors on a 19-player roster, captured the title last season with a 1-0 shootout win over Davison Faith. Two years ago, Faith Baptist defeated RHC in the finals, 2-1.

It was the visitors who took the advantage early. Justin Dunn converted a cross from Nick Tungl in the 30^th minute to stake Davison Faith (10-6-1) a 1-0 lead. Jesse Montgomery answered for Rochester Hills Christian (13-6-1) in the 35^th minute.

Both teams had chances in the second half and the two, 10-minute overtime periods.

“I thought both teams had some nice chances,” offered Slota. “Both goalies came up huge with one great save apiece. I started to feel like we were going to end up in a shootout again and we did. Once we got there, I knew we had the shooters.”

Seth Hobson made eight saves for Davison Faith and Jared Brown made eight stops for RHC. Brown made a pair of stops in the shootout with another shot sailing wide of the net to help the host Eagles prevail.

Dunn and Tungl converted in the shootout for Davison Faith, which failed to reach the finals for the first time in six years.

“Most of our games with them are close,” said Slota. “I wasn’t surprised that we went to a shootout. I thought we had a slight edge in shots and we controlled play for (stretches), but they have a good goalie. They played well. We found a way to get them again.”

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FOR MORE SOCCER COVERAGE: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=soccer&x=0&y=0

Have photos or video of this event that you wish to share? E-mail pertinent information to www.northoaklandsports.com Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com or e-mail results@northoaklandsports.com.

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