GIRLS SOCCER: Leonard, Athens advance into regional finals
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.Stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
TROY — There seems to be some controversy on how many goals Ashley Leonard has on the season: 26 or 27.
There is no controversy that her team, Troy Athens, is still very much alive in the Division 1 postseason.
The fifth-ranked Red Hawks continued to advance Wednesday by beating Grosse Pointe South for the second time in three weeks, topping the Blue Devils, 2-1, in a regional semifinal at Troy High School.
Athens (15-4-4) defeated Grosse Pointe South 6-2 in late May in the final week of the regular season. Athens will face eighth-ranked Utica Eisenhower, last year’s state runner-up, in the regional finals at 7 p.m. Friday.
In last Saturday’s district finals win over Troy, there was some debate that if Leonard scored the Red Hawks’ final goal or Shannon Birney. Regardless, Leonard has racked more goals at Athens in a single-season since Tiffany Laskowski lit up scoreboards some 15 years ago en route to Miss Soccer honors in 2000 — the last time Athens won a state title in girls soccer.
“There is some controversy that Ashley either has 26 or 27 goals. The referee credited Shannon Birney with a goal Saturday, but a lot of the girls said that Ashley’s shot had crossed the goal line before Shannon kicked it,” said Athens coach Todd Heugh. “It doesn’t really matter — Ashley’s scored a ton of goals this season. She has led us all season.”
Leonard scored both of the goals for Athens Wednesday, tallying goals early in both halves, as the Red Hawks never trailed.
“She has led us all season, no doubt,” said Athens coach todd Heugh. “She’s had some big games for us this season. She scored a bunch on Saturday. And she’s done it against some really good competition. Beside our OAA Red (Division ) schedule, we’ve played a really tough non-league schedule against a lot of ranked teams. She has a knack for scoring goals.”
Athens has only yielded 16 goals all season spanning 23 games. Amanda Harris notched her 15th win in goal against the Blue Devils.
Leonard scored in the 14th minute, tucking in a breakaway to put her tea set the tone
“We scored both goals at grey times,” offered Huegh. “We scored about 15 minutes into the game to set the tone. Then we scored in the first five minutes of the second half to give us some breathing room. Although South played much better in the second half then the last time we played them. We scored four goals in the second half the last time we played them. They had some chances.”
Grosse Pointe South, which graduated 10 starters from last year’s team, has made a push in the later stages of this season. The Blue Devils (7-13-2) cut the deficit down to 2-1 when Abby Reisen scored with 34:20 remaining.
The Athens defense held firm down the stretch to earn a Friday date with Eisenhower, another fellow state powerhouse. Ike defeated Athens 2-1 early in the campaign, some 2.5 months ago.
“We’re looking forward to the opportunity to played Eisenhower again. They beat us early in the season,” continued Heugh. “I wasn’t sure if the first time we played that we sw the best Ike team. It was in late March and early in the season. I am expecting to see a great game. They have some great offensive weapons — some players that we will have to keep an eye on.”
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