BOYS SOCCER: Top-ranked Troy explodes late to advance to Elite Eight
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROCHESTER HILLS — Simply put, Warren DeLaSalle was able to tie its regional semifinal game with Troy Tuesday in the 66th minute.
Instead of grabbing some desperately-needed momentum, the Pilots awoke up a sleeping giant instead.
Troy, despite missing its leading goal scorer out with an injury, erupted for two goals in the final 8:16 to oust DeLaSalle, 3-1, in a Division 1 regional semifinal at Rochester Stoney Creek.
Troy (18-0-4) will face third-ranked New Baltimore Anchor Bay at 6 p.m. Thursday for the regional championship, also at Stoney Creek. Anchor Bay escaped with a 4-3 overtime win over Utica Eisenhower.
Junior Lukas Larroquette netted the game-winner and senior Aidan Baraiac added an insurance tally to keep the Colts’ unbeaten season alive.
“I have to be honest, this was one of our worst games,” admitted Troy coach Jimmy Stachura. “Sure we knocked the ball around in the back and we controlled play. But we struggled in their third of the field. Hats off to them for playing good defense. We beat them up earlier in the season and it was never close. They did a good job of changing things up and we were frustrated. I think we were really missing our 17-goal scorer up top (John Palomino). That hurt us. He’ll be back on Thursday for the regional final.”
On the game-winner, Nick Worrell’s long cross into the box went to the feat of Larroquette, who beat his mark before uncorking his shot into the net with 8:16 to play.
The Colts scored again just 31 seconds later with 7:45 left. Junior Jimmy Levitt’s long pass down the middle of the field was tracked down by Baraiac, who cut back, beat two defenders and then laced his shot between the pipes.
DeLaSalle could never recover from those lethal strikes.
It marks Troy’s first regional finals appearance since 2017, while it is also Anchor Bay’s second straight berth and just third overall. The Colts were far from unbeaten during that ’17 campaign — a year Troy reached the Final Four before losing in a shootout to Walled Lake Central.
Troy has fielded many top-20 teams in its soccer program’s 41-year history. But few have carried such a stellar record this late in the tournament.
“That (1993) team may have been last unbeaten (Troy team) heading into the tournament but that was a long, long time ago,” noted Stachura. “
Troy scored first with 31:27 remaining in the first half. Junior Carter Cusmano scooped up a deflection and laced a high from 15 yards out that dipped under the crossbar.
Controlling the play for over 90 percent of the game, Troy ended up with a 16-6 overall shots edge — 9-4 with shots on frame — and even a 6-3 differential on cornerkicks. The Colts even hit the crossbar or goalpost three times but could not add to their lead for a long stretch.
The Pilots never even attempted a shot until there was 11 seconds left in the first half yet found themselves deadlocked with Troy late.
DeLaSalle (11-7-4) finally netted the game-tying goal on a counterattack. Senior Marco Foltz broke free on the right side before his bending cross snuck through the goal mouth and junior Dean Oakie’s cashed in on a loose ball in the box and tucked in an eight-yard shot with 13:26 remaining in the contest.
“We knew we couldn’t play them straight up,” offered DeLaSalle coach Thaier Mukhtar. “They have way too much skill and team speed and they knock it around as good as any team I’ve seen in years. We played six in the back and looked to counter. We put together a game-plan and we thought if we could get one in we could win this game. Even though know one else in the stadium believed we could win but us, we still put together a plan to win this game. We just came up short. Troy is a very, very good team.”
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