BOYS SOCCER: Uninspired Clarkston glides past Romeo to advance to district finals
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROMEO — By its own coach’s measure, Clarkston’s performance Monday was not a thing a beauty. But it was more than good enough to remain alive in the Division 1 postseason.
The Wolves controlled play throughout and came away with a 2-0 shutout of host Romeo in a Division 1 district semifinals match played under a steady drizzle.
Clarkston scored twice within a seven-minute stretch of the second half but left far too many chances on the field.
“The weather was not great and even though we dominated, I think the weather is no excuse. We didn’t play very well to be honest,” said Ian Jones, Clarkston’s third-year head coach who guided the Wolves to district titles the past two years. “The other team is trying to stop you, break the momentum. We should have scored some early goals. There is a lot of experience on this team, guys that have played in a lot of big (tournament) games in high school and club and guys that play at a high level. I don’t think we played our best game by far. I think at times we were not necessarily panicking but we were rushing into things. That was playing into their hands. They sat back, fouled us, cleared the ball and it was effective because it stopped us from playing our style of soccer and it stopped us from scoring goals.”
Clarkston still held a commanding 17-4 shots edge in the contest, including 9-1 with shots on frame, and even held a 5-4 edge on cornerkicks. The Wolves nearly found themselves in a 1-0 hole before the half.
Romeo senior Austin Taseski volleyed a free kick that crossed the goal mouth and glanced off the outer side of the right post with 1:59 to go in the first half. The Bulldogs (8-5-3) struggled to build much of an attack and had just one shot on frame during the second half.
“I think if we scored there it might have made a difference because we would have forced them to play from behind,” said Romeo coach Vincent Vasilevski. “We did a good job defensively keeping them from creating great chances and we found away to go into the half 0-0. But (Clarkston is) a good team and they controlled play. They deserved to win. They are one of the best teams we have faced all season and they deserved to win. We only had a couple of chances of our own and we didn’t finish.”
Clarkston senior goalkeeper Mason Walsh recorded a second-half save for his third straight shutout and seventh overall. The Wolves rarely allowed Romeo to even penetrate the final third of the field.
Controlling possession, Clarkston created multiple chances in the first half but could not sneak one into the net. In the second half, sophomore midfielder Richie Ludwig set up both goals for the Wolves.
On the game-winner, Ludwig — one of the state’s top sophomores — had a nice individual effort on the left side, slipping past his defender before sending a cross over to the right side. Junior Dylan Walker corralled the pass and sent a left-footed blast just inside the near post from 12 yards out with 25:19 to go.
Ludwig’s serve on a free kick found junior Jacob Murray in the penalty box, and Murray leapt high to head home the insurance tally with 18:13 remaining for the Wolves to cap the scoring.
“Richie always does a great job. He’s always creating chances and we were able to finish on a couple of them,” said Jones. “We were finally able to put one in with about 25 (minutes) to go. I think the longer a game goes where its 0-0, it gives the other team belief they can win. I think once we scored I think we relaxed and we scored again a few minutes later.”
The Wolves (7-3-5) advanced to the Division 1 district finals on Wednesday and will face Utica Eisenhower (8-1-4) at 6 p.m. It marks the fourth straight year Clarkston has reached at least the district finals.
“I think if we were playing a really good team we might have been in trouble because we would not have had as many chances,” said Jones. “Hopefully we play better the next time out. If we’re going to go farther, I think we need to play better.”
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