BOYS SOCCER: Efficient Lutheran Northwest holds on to oust rival Oakland Christian
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
AUBURN HILLS — Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest proved Monday you don’t have to dominate in the postseason to advance.
You just have to be efficient.
The Crusaders only put four shots on frame in their Division 4 district semifinal at host Auburn Hills Oakland Christian but still found a way to walk away with a 3-2 victory to advance to the district finals for the first time since 2013.
Senior midfielder Sam Martin scored bookend goals and what eventually proved to be the game winner in the 61st minute to lift the Crusaders.
“They’ve come a long way this season. We started off the season losing 7-1 to (Grosse Pointe Woods University) Liggett, who is at the top of the standings in the state, so they recognize they have to play faster and have to play for each other instead of playing for ourselves,” said Lutheran Northwest coach Steve Ferguson. “We didn’t have many chances, but we were able to score on three of them.”
Lutheran Northwest (4-7-3) will face Clarkston Everest Collegiate Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the district finals, also at Oakland Christian. But not before holding off its arch-rivals at the end.
Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest’s Max Martin (left) and Auburn Hills Oakland Christian’s James Smith converge on the ball during Monday’s Division 4 district semifinals match. Courtesy Photo | Ken Swart, Swart Photography
Oakland Christian (5-4-4) outshot Lutheran Northwest 12-8 overall with a 5-4 differential with shots on frame and even held a 5-1 edge on cornerkicks. The Lancers struggled to convert and trailed 1-0 at the half after a counterattack goal.
In fact, Oakland Christian never held the lead.
Lutheran Northwest took its 1-0 lead with 7:43 left in the first half off a Martin goal from close range, which was also the Crusaders’ very first shot on goal. Senior midfielder Sam Griswold slotted a pass into the box to the left side and Martin was able to slip past an Oakland Christian defender and tuck in his shot from 12 yards out.
Oakland Christian applied immediate pressure to open the second half and that resulted in the game-tying goal with 38:04 still to play in the game. Senior forward Antonio Munoz got in behind the defense following a pass from freshman midfielder Thomas Megie and laced his shot into the net.
Despite dominating possession for most of the game, Oakland Christian found itself in a two-goal hole later in the half when Lutheran Northwest scored twice within a span of 3:33.
Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest’sNathan Jungeburg (left) tries to defend Auburn Hills Oakland Christian’s Thomas Megie during Monday’s Division 4 district semifinals match. Courtesy Photo | Ken Swart, Swart Photography
Sophomore forward Vaughn Stauch put the Crusaders up for good with 22:42 to go when he cleaned up a rebound after junior forward Tom Ennis’ initial shot was blocked but came back out into the middle of the box.
Lutheran Northwest was not done by scoring on consecutive chances, including Martin’s game winner just over three minutes later. Martin took advantage of an Oakland Christian defensive miscue and deposited his shot into the corner of the goal.
“(Martin) is like another coach on the field for me,” said Ferguson. “He just doesn’t stop talking. He doesn’t stop running. Ever since his freshman year, I’ve relied on him pretty heavily. He’s consistently been one of our top players and he came through for us again today.”
Oakland Christian moved several players around including an extra attacker during the final 19 minutes. The constant pressure saw the Lancers cut into Northwest’s lead when Munoz scored his second goal of the game with 5:13 left.
Oakland Christian nearly tied it a minute later when senior Connor Butcher, who was moved up from center back to forward after the two-goal deficit, created a great chance. Butcher ripped a bending 30-yard free kick that was turned aside by Northwest sophomore keeper Lucas Gaertner, who dove to his right to thwart the attempt.
Gaertner finished with three saves and the Northwest defense, anchored by fellow sophomore Declan Greene, frustrated the Oakland Christian attack throughout the afternoon.
Oakland Christian was left with a bitter taste after controlling the tempo for most of the 80 minutes of play and walking off the pitch empty handed.
“It was one of those situations where it’s the state playoffs. Everybody’s going to come ready to play, so I think for us we just couldn’t get any shots in,” sighed Oakland Christian coach Patrick Reyes. “We made it close. We were able to get back in there with that goal at the very, very end, but it was a tough way to go out. We had a lot of chances and we dominated the game possession-wise, we just couldn’t take the lead early on and eventually found ourselves down by two and trying to play catch up.”
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