GIRLS SOCCER: DeBeau’s late-game heroics lift Eisenhower past Lake Orion
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
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UTICA — Tense moments.
There’s always plenty during state tournament time.
Utica Eisenhower had one of those moments in Wednesday’s Division 1 pre-district with Lake Orion.
The Eagles found themselves in a 1-1 draw inside the final minute before Lauren DeBeau’s late-game heroics.
DeBeau cashed in a breakaway with nine seconds left in leading Eisenhower to a 2-1 victory over Lake Orion at Utica’s Swinehart Stadium.
“When I got the ball and cut back in the middle I saw the side open. I just knew I had to finish it for my team because you don’t want a game to go to overtime,” said DeBeau, who has 23 goals on the campaign.
The pre-district game was originally set for Tuesday, but was postponed due to the officials not showing on the originally scheduled date. Eisenhower dominated for 80 minutes, even though they faced the drama of being deadlocked 1-1 late in the contest.
“I predicted the game. I used to play for (Lake Orion coach Chris) Corteg years ago. I knew they were going to man mark our top players and look for a long counterattack,” said Eisenhower coach Mehrdad Nekoogar. “But we should have scored on a lot more of our chances and not relied on scoring a late goal just to win it. I think we were a little flat. We were supposed to play the day before and coming back the next day is hard. Give (Lake Orion) credit for fighting back and tying it. But we should have had a couple of more goals at least.”
Eisenhower took the 1-0 lead in the 31st minute, when sophomore Meike Ingles cashed in a breakaway feed from DeBeau with 9:24 left in the first half. The Eagles outshot Lake Orion 7-0 in the first half, allowing the Dragons’ into the final third of the field only on a couple of occasions.
In the second half, Eisenhower dominated play again, posting a 13-1 shots edge over the final 40 minutes. Yet Lake Orion found a way to tie the game with 9:10 remaining in the contest.
Junior Kara Houser got behind the Eisenhower defense following a 30-yard chip pass from junior Marisa Szydlowski and scored on a breakaway. The Dragons (11-7-1) did not threaten again and played defensive soccer hoping to force overtime.
“You score on your first shot with nine to go and tie it, you take that 100 times out of 100 times because teams like Eisenhower don’t give you many chances,” said Lake Orion coach Chris Corteg. “If we could have taken them to overtime or PKs, that would have been great. We’re actually really good at PKs and anything can happen. But hats off to Eisenhower. They are a very good team with two great strikers up top and one of them scored a great goal in the final minute to beat us.”
Goalkeepers Madison Marks and Elizabeth McConkie shared the victory in net for Eisenhower (14-1-3). Overall, the Eagles posted a 20-1 shots advantage, including 12-1 with shots on frame, and even held a 5-0
edge on cornerkicks.
The MAC Red Division champion Eagles will have less than a 24-hour turnaround and will play district host Rochester at 5 p.m. Thursday in the district semifinals.
“We’ll have to come back and play better. Rochester is a good team and they also beat Lake Orion this year,” said Nekoogar. “We’ll have to finish our chances and not allow them to stay in it.”
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