GIRLS SOCCER: Lakers rout Lansing Christian to advance to fourth state final in five years
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BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
TROY— Unfinished business.
That’s exactly what members of the Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes-Clarkston Everest Collegiate Unified girls soccer team hope to lock down Saturday at Mason High School.
The top-ranked Lakers advanced to the Division 4 state finals for the third straight season and the fourth time in six years Wednesday with a resounding 6-1 victory over Lansing Christian in the state semifinals at Troy Athens High School.
Led by senior forward Anna Robb, who scored three goals and now has 12 tallies in the past four postseason games, the Lakers broke open a close game in the final 12 minutes of the first half with two goals, then added four more after halftime to oust Lansing Christian in the semifinals for the second straight season.
“Definitely a lot of unfinished business. We have a lot of motivation to go back there and make something different happen,” smiled Robb of making it back to the state finals. “We’ve lost to them twice and we’re not going to let it happen again. This was the goal all season, getting back.”
The Lakers (17-1-1) will face fourth-ranked Grandville Calvin Christian at 3 p.m. Saturday. Calvin Christian defeated WOLL-CEC in the finals last season (2-1) and in 2012 (6-0).
Robb scored the first goal with 11:53 left in the first half, cutting back and ripping home a shot from 18 yards out. She scored in similar fashion with 7:14 left in the half, this time from 15 yards out.
The Lakers, who won a state championship in 2010 and have won at least a district title seven straight seasons, opened up the floodgates with two more goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half. Sophomore Alex Troy and freshman Karli Flesher both scored on blasts from about 30 yards out, while Robb netted her third goal with 20:24 left to put the contest out of reach.
Lansing Christian (9-6-1) spoiled the shutout with 17:25 remaining when senior forward Kristy Gomez scored on a breakaway.
WOLL-CEC had the answer with 51 ticks left, when senior Gabby Troy volleyed home a cornerkick from junior Claire Lacseski to cap the scoring.
Scoring goals in bunches has been a trademark for the Lakers high-octane offense, as they have outscored the opposition 33-3 in five postseason games and has scored at least five goals in each contest.
“I think it’s our possession. We’re able to make plays and get the ball free and (consistently) get players free,” said first-year WOLL-CEC coach Courtney Shegos, who played in the Division 1 state finals in 2004 when she was a freshman at Grand Blanc High School. “We find the right feet at the right time. We have girls that can hit the net and I think that’s the biggest thing. If you don’t hit the net, we’re not going to score. But we’ve found people that can. We’ve just been racking up goals all season.”
Lansing Christian won three regional titles in four season, but could not shock its second straight state-ranked team this time around. After losing to Saginaw Nouvel Catholic 5-1 earlier in the year, the Pilgrims stunned Nouvel in the regional finals.
“We weren’t supposed to be here. So when we beat Nouvel, I thought anything else would be icing on the cake,” admitted Lansing Christian coach Joel Vande Kopple. “What we’ve done the past four years after not even coming close to winning a regional in the past, I couldn’t be happier of this group of girls. We just lost to a great team today.”
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