BOYS SOCCER: Renaud’s late goal helps No. 2 Athens slip by ninth-ranked Troy
BY DAN STICKRADT
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BERKLEY — Scoring chances were at a premium Tuesday night. Troy Athens made sure its best opportunity resulted in a game-winning goal.
Junior sniper TJ Renaud, who recently returned from an injury, scored the game’s sole goal in the 74th minute and second-ranked Athens edged ninth-ranked Troy, 1-0, in a Division 1 district semifinals clash at Berkley High School.
Athens, which fell from the top spot in the D-1 coaches poll after dropping its final two regular season games to No. 15 Holt (1-0) and unranked Clarkston (2-1), advances to the district finals for the sixth time in eight seasons.
“It’s hard to beat a team more than once in a season, especially when it’s your rival,” offered Athens coach Todd Heugh. “This was what I expected. Troy is a good team and very disciplined. The last time we played them we did a better job at creating restarts and finishing our chances. Credit to Troy for limiting our chances.
“We had been talking a lot about trying to win the end line. We have a lot of speed and a lot of power,” continued Heugh. “Oftentimes, when games get tough like this, we rely on just going up the middle. A good, organized team like Troy was tonight can shut down that kind of attack, so we had talked about constantly trying to win the end line.”
Renaud, who earned All-State Third Team status as a sophomore, booted home the game-winner on a nifty give-and-go play with senior Davis DiGiovanni.
Renaud sent the ball down the right side to DiGiovanni, who beat his mark near the end line and slotted the ball back over to the top of the box. Renaud touched it once before ripping a shot inside the left goal post from 15 yards out with 6:54 remaining.
“Davis did a great job. It looked like he was going to cut to the middle. He dropped his shoulder, he won the end line, he played a ball back, and T.J. made a good run and finished,” added Heugh. “Those are the kinds of things you’re looking for from a potential all-state striker.”
Athens (18-2-1) held a narrow 9-6 shots edge, including 5-2 with shots directly on frame. Renaud’s tally was the only shot on frame during the entire second half and it was the poison that ended Troy’s season.
Senior goalkeeper Jason Kemp made two first-half saves for the clean sheet. It marked the Red Hawks’ 13th shutout of the season in 21 games.
Athens has outscored the opposition 63-9 this season and only one school was able to score more than one goal against the Red Hawks.
Still, in a rivalry atmosphere — especially in the postseason — anything can happen.
“I was telling these guys, it wasn’t so much about tactics or technique tonight in a rivalry game. I was just trying to push effort. I was proud of the way the kids defended,” added Heugh.
The Colts finished 14-5-1 and landed second in the OAA Red Division behind Athens, which defeated Troy 3-0 last month.
Troy simply could not find a way to penetrate Athens’ stingy defense.
“I’m really proud of my guys,” said Troy coach Jim Stachura. “Everything we needed to do to win the game I thought we did except the hardest part, which is score a goal. We had a couple of good combinations and (Athens does) so many good things in the air, and when the ball is in the air, that’s not good for us. We played too much like that in the second half. Hats off to them. They finished off their one good chance. We just couldn’t score against them.”
BERKLEY ADVANCES
In the second district semifinal on the night, eighth-ranked Berkley toppled Sterling Heights Stevenson, 2-0.
Sam Stone and Ari Belchinsky scored for the Berkley (15-3-4).
The Bears will try for their second straight district trophy at 6 p.m. Thursday when they host Troy Athens.
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