GIRLS SOCCER: Athens wins 14th district crown in shootout victory over Royal Oak
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BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
BIRMIGNHAM — Fighting through a season of ups and downs, Troy Athens’ girls soccer players learned how to remain quite competitive.
Amongst the team’s frustrations were a school record 10 ties, one of the highest totals in state history, and five losses.
Yet, Athens is still very much alive in the postseason despite its rebuilding season and a roster with not too many stars.
Athens captured its 14th district title in 30 years Saturday, topping Royal Oak, 2-1, in a shootout victory in a Division 1 district final at Birmingham Groves. The Red Hawks held a 4-2 edge on PKs to advance to the regional round of competition.
“It’s been kind of grind-it-out-type season,” admitted Athens coach Todd Heugh. “We’ve been in virtually every game this season, which led to the 10 ties. We’ve had some up-and-downs, a lot of very close games along with the ties. The district final was a lot some of our other games.”
Athens (8-5-10) will face Utica Ford II at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the D-1 regional semifinals at Sterling Heights Stevenson.
Sophomore Amanda Harris finished with seven saves throughout 100 minutes of open play, including a penalty kick in the first half. Harris also stopped two penalty shots in the shootout, including one that ended the tiebreaker.
Shannon Birney scored the fourth goal in the shootout, moments before Harris’ game-winning save. The Red Hawks did not miss in the shootout and did not have to take the fifth penalty shot.
“She’s been phenomenal, our MVP this season,” praised Heugh of Harris’ play between the pipes. “Not too many goalkeepers stopped three penalty kicks in an entire season and she stopped three in the district final. Two were in the shootout, but she helped us win this game.”
Sophomore Silvanna Mancini tied the game with 2:40 left in regulation to force two 10-minute overtime periods, followed by the shootout.
“It was a clutch goal,” said Heugh. “I thought Royal Oak is a very good team. They didn’t give us a ton of chances. But we had a sophomore come through in the final minutes (of regulation). We’ve had that all season, somebody else stepping up and scoring a goal when we needed it. We don’t have anyone with a ton of goals this season.
“We started the year 1-4-1 and we’re not playing very good soccer. But we slowly got better and better throughout the season,” continued Heugh. “We are 7-1-9 in our last 17 games. Our only loss in that stretch was to (Rochester Stoney Creek). We have been playing much better soccer, especially in the second half of the season. And our schedule has been quality teams. Since we only played everyone in the OAA-Red once, that gave us a chance to go out and see a lot of good teams to get us ready for the postseason. We live to play another game.”
TROY ATHENS GIRLS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS
League Championship Seasons — 1982, 1984, 1985 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.
District Championship Seasons — 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2014
Regional Championship Seasons — 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 2000.
Final Four Seasons — 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 2000.
State Championship Seasons — 1989, 1991, 1993, 2000.
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