BOYS SOCCER: Adams upends unbeaten Fraser to reach D-1 state finals
Highlanders edge Ramblers on penalty kicks to reach
championship match for first time since 2001
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.Stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROCHESTER HILLS — Dylan Brown admits that his team is playing with quite a swagger these days, especially when his team participates in penalty kicks.
Brown, a sophomore goalkeeper from Rochester Adams, celebrated with his teammates near midfield Wednesday night at Lake Orion High School, where the Highlanders stunned previously-unbeaten and third-ranked Fraser, 3-2, in the Division 1 state semifinals. The Highlanders — you guessed it — won the contest on penalty kicks, outscoring the Ramblers 4-2 in the tiebreaker to keep their dream season alive.
Brown made one stop in the shootout, watched another shot ring off the crossbar and witnessed
teammates Matthew Lencioni, Devin Beyer, Vinnie Demarco and Kevin Lencioni convert their shots in the shootout. Meanwhile, Kevin Lencioni’s blast into the corner of the goal was the clincher and helped send Adams into the state finals for the first time since 2001 and third time overall.
“I knew once we got to the shootout we would win,” noted Brown, who stopped three shots in a shootout Saturday in a 2-1 regional finals victory over Clarkston. “I had faith we would win. No doubt.”
Adams, the OAA Red Division runner-up, entered the postseason listed as honorable mention in the coaches association polls. The Highlanders, state champions in 1999 and state runners-up in 2001, will face No. 2-ranked Plymouth Canton at 12 p.m. Saturday in the D-1 state finals.
Canton and Adams (12-4-7) tied 1-1 back in August in the beginning weeks of the season.
“This has been our goal since day one. It’s always the goal to get there, but it’s never easy,” said sixth-year Adams coach Josh Hickey, a former standout player at Troy Athens and Rochester College. “These guys have played so well this season. They believe in each other and now they will play Saturday for the state championship.”
The loss, Fraser’s only defeat of the season, ended the Ramblers’ most successful campaign to date. Fraser reached the regional semifinals last season and the regional finals way back in 1889. This year’s stellar team finished 24-1-3 and lost only two times in their last 52 contests spanning two seasons.
“This team had an amazing season,” sighed third-year Fraser coach Thaier Muktar, who coached on 10 Final Four teams at nearby Warren DeLaSalle. “They are taking it really hard right now, but they have nothing to be ashamed of. We lost one game last year and one game this year, both in the tournament, and we were able to make some long runs. Fraser did not have much of a (soccer) history to speak of, so this group of guys really made Fraser into a top 10 team in the state.”
Fraser trailed Adams 2-1 in the second half, before pushing extra attackers up top and controlled play for the final 20 minutes of regulation. The Ramblers’ pace and work ethic finally resulted in the equalizer with 7:12 left in regulation. Justin Gray laced a shot from 22 yards out that knuckled inside the right post to knot the game at 2-2.
Fraser outshot Adams 4-2 during the two 10-minute overtime periods, but could not pull ahead, leaving the game to be decided on PKs.
Fraser grabbed a 1-0 lead with 29:35 to play in the first half when Gray ripped a shot into the upper 90 of the net from 20 yards out.
Adams tied it at 1-1 with 7:10 remaining in the first half when Kevin Lencioni, one of three Lencioni brothers in the Highlanders’ starting lineup, broke free in traffic and tucked in his opportunity.
The Highlanders pulled ahead with 34:40 left in the second half, when Kevin Lencioni’s bending cornerkick into the box was headed home by Lennart Zorn. Adams fell into a defensive shell later in the half and finally caved into Fraser’s constant pressure.
Fraser came back from a 3-0 deficit in last week’s regional finals against Bloomfield Hills, scoring three second-half goals and finally prevailing over the Blackhawks, 4-3, in a game that also reached a shootout.
“We gave it our all,” said Mukhtar. “We kept working and working and finally tied it, but we just could go ahead. Sometimes you have too be skilled and lucky in the playoffs.”
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