BOYS SOCCER: First-half outburst leads Troy Athens past Troy for 19th district crown
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
WATERFORD — Defending Troy Athens on the soccer pitch is kind of like a game of pick your poison.
Who do you man mark? Who do you try to shut down?
Troy Athens again displayed its array of offensive weapons Thursday and the Red Hawks walked off the field with a 3-0 shutout of arch-rival Troy in a Division 1 district final at Waterford Mott.
Defending state champion Athens scored its three goals in a span of 6:06 during the first half to deflate the Colts and capture its 19th overall district title over 40 seasons of boys soccer.
That’s nearly one district title every other year.
“We have guys that can score, and when they can find pockets, they’ll take their chances,” said Athens coach Todd Heugh, who in his 10th season has kept the Red Hawks as one of the best programs in the state.
“I was proud of our work ethic, proud of our composure, and proud of the fact that we were not only able to score those goals but then to end up holding them off the scoreboard as well whereas the other night when we were up 3-0 at halftime we gave up two goals in the second half. We were a lot better defensively.”
As for the offense that outscored the opposition 11-3 over three postseason games and 44-12 over 17 total contests, the Red Hawks have multiple stars who have the capability of taking games over.
“We really do have a four-headed monster up there — a lot of guys who can create chances and score,” continued Heugh. “We don’t have that one player with a ton of goals, but we have four guys that are (racking up) points. That makes us tough to defend.”
Although Troy came out strong the first 10 minutes, the tables quickly turned. The Red Hawks (12-2-3), owners of back-to-back district titles and three in the last five seasons, attacked Troy’s defense with fervor and viscously peppered and swarmed the Colts’ net.
The consistent pressure finally paid off with 11:05 in the first half when junior forward Ryan Gruca netted what proved to be the game winner with his left-footed shot that he tucked into the left corner of the goal.
Only 1:18 later, senior midfielder Anthony Kapala pushed the lead to 2-0 on a quick strike. Senior midfielder Adrian Lekocaj picked up a steal 40 yards in front of the goal and tapped the ball to Gruca, who was on the run up the middle. Gruca one-timed a touch to Kapala, who fired it home.
Lekocaj set up the third goal off a free kick into the box and Gruca rushed into the 10-yard spot and volleyed the shot into the corner to cap the scoring.
Athens posted a 12-10 shots edge on the day with 6-3 with shots on frame. The constant pressure also saw the Red Hawks threaten with a 5-2 edge on cornerkicks as well.
“We didn’t take advantage of any of the opportunities we had. We never got in rhythm,” offered Troy coach Jim Stachura. “We had chances, especially early. If we score on one of those, who knows? Maybe things could be different.”
Much like the first half, Troy came out and applied pressure on the Red Hawks’ defense in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Colts simply could not solve the Athens back line or junior goalkeeper Matt Gawthrop, who finished with only three saves but made a pair of brilliant stops in the first half.
The first-year starter leapt high to push away a threat with 8:59 remaining in the first half with his team up by two goals. Gawthrop helped shut the door on Troy’s season and picked up the team’s seventh shutout of the season in 17 games.
“He was our back up last year and he gained some valuable experience,” said Heugh of Gawthrop. “Not necessarily game time because Jason Kemp got a lot of minutes in there. But he had a lot of reps in practice and did get to play in some games. This year he’s been solid for us all season.”
Troy finished the campaign with a respectable 9-3-4 record playing quality competition, but with two of its three losses coming to the hands of Athens.
“Athens has a lot of goal scorers. If you have finishers and if you have good goalkeeping that can go a long ways in high school soccer,” said Troy coach Jim Stachura. “They have that. They have guys that can finish and a good goalie.
“We did some really good things. We have a couple of things that we just can’t seem to get over the hump on,” continued Stachura. “I’m really proud of the guys. They trained really hard. I’ll tell you what. They could have easily packed the bag in this year when COVID hits and you’re not sure when your season is going to start. They could have very well just packed it in and said we’re going to be hurt about it. They didn’t. They came out played hard, played a season through adversity and all these different protocols, the mask-wearing and being tested all the time. They still came together and had a really good season.”
Athens will host a regional and face Utica Eisenhower next Tuesday. New Baltimore Anchor Bay and Walled Lake Central will face off in the other regional semifinal. Game times to be announced.
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