BOYS SOCCER: Brandon advances to regional finals; Cranbrook ousts DCD in shootout
BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
AUBURN HILLS — Give Ortonville Brandon a lead and characteristically, the Blackhawks will rarely relinquish it.
Brandon made sure that it would not allow the opposition rally Tuesday night. In fact, the Blackhawks’ defense was simply suffocating St. Clair Shores Lake Shore for 80 minutes.
Defensive-minded Brandon cashed in a goal late in the first half, tacked on three insurance tallies in the second half and the defense made it all stand in recording a 4-0 victory over Lake Shore in a Division 2 regional semifinal at Auburn Hills Avondale.
Brandon, ranked 18th, advances to the regional finals for the first time since 1997, where No. 4 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood awaits for a 7 p.m. date, also at Avondale.
“We’re improving every game, and they’re peaking at the right time,” smiled Brandon coach Shawn Lovelace, whose program is having its best season since the Blackhawks were a regularly ranked team in the 1990s. “I thought it was a great performance tonight. We did what we wanted to do. We won balls. We won possession — and we finished. If we can keep playing like that, I think we’ll make it a good game on Thursday. We’ll be ready for them.”
Senior Thomas Haase netted what proved to be the game-winner, tapping home a close-range shot off a cross from sophomore Javier Lozano with 4:01 left in the first half.
The Blackhawks defense, anchored by junior goalkeeper Brennan Swix and junior center back Nolan Tews, thwarted the Shorians’ offense all night to enlist Lake Shore as its 15th shutout victim of the season, which is believed to be a school record.
Lake Shore (10-12-1) nearly tied the game early in the second half, but a shot from close range sailed over the crossbar. The Shorians attempted only one more shot after that point, while Brandon scored three more unanswered goals after the miscue.
“We came close. I think if we could have scored on that opportunity, it would have changed (the flow) of the game,” said Lake Shore coach David Lount. “Later in the game we pushed a lot of guys up trying to get a goal and that left our defense exposed. We just couldn’t get much going offensively.”
Brandon outshot the Shorians by a commanding 15-3 margin, including 5-0 with shots directly on goal. In fact, the Blackhawks’ first three shots on frame resulted in goals, including Haase’s game-winner.
Leading 1-0 in the second half, junior midfielder Brendan O’Shea scored the final three goals to help Brandon (16-5-3) pull away.
His first goal was unassisted, as he corralled a steal and went in alone for a goal with 26:39 left.
O’Shea countered again on a breakaway feed form senior Steven Graham with 20:31 remaining, while Graham found a streaking O’Shea in the box and O’Shea broke free and blasted home his team-best 16th goal of the season with 4:31 left on the clock to cap the scoring.
Brandon lost to Cranbrook, last season’s state runner-up, 4-1 in the season opener when the Blackhawks had only 12 available players.
“We’re a different team now then we were back then,” admitted Lovelace. “We played them early in the season as kind of a benchmark. It shows us where all our weaknesses are at. Those are the things we’ve worked on up until now, so now we get another crack at them. They are a great program. Cranbrook is always a very good team. We’re looking forward to the rematch.”
The game with Lake Shore was marred by a fight that broke out with just under a minute remaining in the contest, which resulted in a red card for each team.
BLOOMFIELD HILLS CRANBROOK KINGSWOOD 3, BIRMINGHAM DETROIT COUNTRY DAY 2: Trevor Stormes admits that shootouts make him a little nervous. Yet there is no other player Cranbrook Kingswood would rather have in net than the talented senior keeper.
Stormes, an All-State First Team selection last season, made two saves in a shootout Tuesday night and the Cranes held a 4-3 edge on penalty kicks to oust arch-rival Birmingham Detroit Country, 3-2, in a Division 2 regional semifinal at Auburn Hills Avondale.
“They do make me a little nervous,” Stormes said. “But when you get to this point you have to go in there and try to make some saves. I’ve played in a could of these in my life. We had one in districts. We knew that it could come to this.”
One of Michigan’s top goalkeepers, regardless of division, Stormes stepped up when it mattered most.
“This is not his first rodeo. We’ve played in a few of these (shootouts) the past couple of years,” said Cranbrook coach Chad O’Kulich. “(Trevor) wants the challenge. He’s a special one. He gets in that goal, and this team has confidence.”
Fourth-ranked Cranbrook advances to face 18th-ranked Ortonville Brandon, a 4-0 winner over St. Clair Shores Lake Shore in Tuesday’s other semifinal, in the regional finals Thursday. Game is set for 7 p.m. at Avondale.
With the shootout tied 3-3, Cranbrook junior Cullin Irvine calmly drilled his penalty shot into the corner of the goal to seal the deal fro the Cranes (18-1-1).
“You just have to keep a clear head,” offered Irvine. “It’s difficult, but it’s always fun to score the last penalty kick.”
Cranbrook led 2-1 for a long stretch of the second half and did not allow DCD to even generate a shot in the second half until 11:13 remained in regulation. But a defensive miscue allowed the 12th-ranked Yellowjackets to tie the game.
Sophomore Dylan Prime’s long cross above traffic was redirected home by junior Alec Jbara, who was left unattended at the far post. Country Day (17-5-2) nearly won the game with seven seconds left, but a shot during a wild goal-mouth scramble was cleared off the goal line by Cranbrook senior Juan Jimenez.
Cranbrook outshot Country Day 6-0 over the two 10-minute overtime periods. The Cranes could not convert again until the shootout.
“Penalty kicks are a fun way to win. It’s a hard way to lose. And we’ve been on both sides so many times (over the years),” said O’Kulich. “My hat goes off to DCD. It was a great game. They gave us a great battle. We tied earlier in the year and I knew this would be a close game.”
Junior Kolin Clark gave Cranbrook a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute with his individual effort.
Senior Cooper Belanger netted his 30th goal of the season for DCD with 12:33 left in the first half, taking a cross from Prime and ripping home a shot from 10 yards out.
The Cranes went ahead again with 22:21 remaining in regulation, as Irvine’s corner kick into the box was volleyed in by senior Cooper Cormier.
In the shootout, Stormes made sure Country Day would not convert on its first two attempts, while Cranbrook converted its final four shots.
Country Day, one of the state’s all-time winningest programs, was trying to put together its first title run since 2011. The Yellowjackets fell short playing in a regional that featured three ranked schools.
“There were dreams of putting it together,” noted first-year Country Day coach Steve Bossert. “I think if we could have got out of this regional, then we’d have a great chance to win it.
“(Shootouts have) to be done to settle it. It’s a shame — a shame one has to lose,” continued Bossert. “But (Cranbrook is) an outstanding team. They’re coached well, and they played their hearts out just like my kids did. Someone had to win and someone had to go home. It’s tough.”
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