BOYS SOCCER: Detroit Catholic Central edges Clarkston; Novi blanks Grand Blanc
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
WEST BLOOMFIELD — This time around Novi Detroit Catholic Central would settle for nothing short of a victory.
After a regular season that unfortunately featured seven forfeited wins and a draw against Clarkston, seventh-ranked Catholic Central made sure it kept its postseason hopes alive with a 2-1 victory over unranked Clarkston Tuesday in a Division 1 regional semifinal at West Bloomfield High School.
Catholic Central will carry its 9-9-4 record — 16-2-4 on the field not including the forfeits for using an ineligible player — into Saturday’s 12 noon regional finals against third-ranked and crosstown rival Novi.
The Shamrocks and Novi will face off in the postseason for the seventh time in eight seasons with Catholic Central winning the past two meetings — both coming in the district rounds.
Junior goalkeeper John Downing, who played behind two All-State First Team keepers in 2017 and 2018, was sterling when called upon to shine in net against Clarkston, whom the Shamrocks tied 1-1 back on Sept. 30 in a non-league affair.
“I trained with those guys back in the day and I knew what they accomplished,” said Downing. “They taught me everything that I know. We have the talent on this team and we found a way to win. I just had to do my part.”
Quality goalkeeping has been a staple for Catholic Central in recent years and Downing has more than done his duty.
“We’ve been blessed with very good goalkeeping in recent years and I think that has been the case again this year,” noted CC coach Gene Pulice. “John has been consistent all season for us.”
Downing made just four saves for Catholic Central, but had to make three clutch stops in the final 25 minutes to keep the Shamrocks in the lead. His biggest was diving to his right to thwart Clarkston senior midfielder Brendan Regelbrugge on a left-footed blast from the top of the box with 10:45 to play.
Clarkston (13-4-2) drew first blood when the Wolves scored in the fifth minute. Freshman Richie Ludwig served a cornerkick into the penalty box and the ball bounced around in a wild goal-mouth scrum for five seconds before senior midfielder Owen Dollins booted one home from 10 yards out with 35:33 remaining in the first half.
CC knotted the game at 1-1 with 31:34 to go in the opening half when sophomore Vincent Stockton laced a free kick from one yard outside of the corner of the box that skipped off the wet turf and through the hands of Clarkston junior keeper Brandan Willis.
The Shamrocks took their first lead with 4:30 to play in the opening half, when junior Jack Leuker slotted a cross from the left corner of the box and senior Nicholas Johnson one-timed a shot into the goal from eight yards out. That proved to be the game-winner in the tightly-contested affair.
Clarkston recorded just four regular season wins last season before winning three district games and reaching the regional semifinals. The Wolves lost in the regional semifinals last season to Catholic Central (1-0) and could not reach the regional finals for the first time since 2007 this time around.
“We won about twice as many as last year,” said second-year Clarkston coach Ian Jones. “I am proud of this group. We had a lot of new players this season and I only started three seniors in this game. We had two freshmen and four sophomores that started regularly for us.”
The game featured a 16-minute delay with 38:26 to go in the second half when the field lights short-circuited and it took time for the system to reboot. Clarkston came out and controlled play for most of the second half but could not sneak in the equalizer.
“We got the rhythm going and started playing really well. That was more like how we played all season, but unfortunately you can’t only do that in the last 20 minutes,” sighed Jones. “We should have been like that from the start. Credit to (Catholic Central). They were the better team in the first half. We had our chances to score again in the second half but couldn’t find the back of the net.”
For the game, Catholic Central held a narrow 10-9 shots edge, although Clarkston held a 5-3 advantage with shots on frame.
Willis made one save for Clarkston.
NOVI 2, GRAND BLANC 0: Making its first regional appearance since 2016, Division 1 third-ranked Novi is keeping the train moving forward — and picking up steam in the process.
The Wildcats remained very much alive following Tuesday’s dominating regional effort that resulted in a 2-0 shutout over Grand Blanc, a program that was making its 14th regional semifinals appearance in the past 20 seasons and reached the Final Four last season.
Novi dominated Grand Blanc, but had to score twice in the final 28 minutes to pull away at West Bloomfield High School.
“We said our best defense would be our offense, keeping possession of the ball, working the ball around because the more we kept the ball, the less opportunities they would get,” offered Novi coach Todd Pheiffer said. “Our midfielders did an awesome job in that second half. Shion (Soga), Taiga (Shiokawa) and Mason (Stroman were standouts). They did a great job of not only keeping the team more focused and organized, but also for the way they kept the ball moving.”
Senior Blair Mayes notched the game-winner with 27:30 remaining in the contest, corralling a pass in the penalty box from senior Kevin Kapllaj and tapping it home from close range.
Novi scored in a similar fashion with 13:05 to play. This time it was senior James Ashworth finishing from two yards out following a cross from junior
Soga Shion.
Junior Issac Gibbs and freshman Ryan Zotkovich shared the shutout on the strength of just one second-half save by Zotkovich.
It marked Novi’s 10th clean sheet of the season, while the KLAA West Division champs now hold a 76-12 scoring edge this season despite a brutally-tough schedule.
Novi reached the regional semifinals for the first time since 2016 — a year the Wildcats also advanced to the Final Four before losing to eventual state champion East Kentwood. Novi has a long-standing tradition between boys soccer and girls soccer in terms of postseason success and this year’s team is certainly carrying that torch.
“It’s all about the culture. Teams see teams of the past,” added Pheiffer. “Four years ago, these boys were first coming up in the program and they saw what kind of culture was created by those 2016 seniors. They want to leave a legacy with this program.”
Grand Blanc, the Saginaw Valley League South Division and overall SVL champion, finished the campaign with a 15-4-4 record.
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