GIRLS SOCCER: Plymouth ends Troy’s season in state semifinals shootout
BY DAN STICKRADT
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TROY — Anything can happen once a soccer match reaches a shootout.
Plymouth made sure the ‘anything’ was an appearance in the Division1 state finals.
The fifth-ranked Wildcats used a 4-1 advantage in a shootout Wednesday night at Troy Athens, and that was the edge to propel Plymouth to a 3-2, come-from-behind victory over 12th-ranked Troy in the state semifinals.
Plymouth (19-4-1) will face top-ranked and defending state champion Novi Saturday at 4 p.m. at Michigan State University’s DeMartin Stadium.
Troy finishes 12-6-2 and bows out in the semifinals for the second straight season.
Novi (24-0-1) defeated Plymouth by scores of 2-0 and 2-1 in regular season matches this season. The title game meeting will be a rematch of the 2010 state finals, when Novi won its fourth of six state titles.
“I felt pretty comfortable once we got to the shootout. We don’t miss often,” said Plymouth coach Jeff Neschich. “We did a great job coming back and I am confident in our goalkeepers and our girls that we could win on penalty kicks. We beat Canton in a shootout and we were down 2-0 with five to go but scored two late goals to tie it. This is a resilient group of girls.”
Junior Sophie Zelek, sophomore Brianna McNab, junior Emma Lennig and senior Rivers Smyth converted in succession during the shootout for Plymouth, which will be making its second state finals appearance in the 17-year history of the school.
Troy made its first penalty kick, but the second clanked off the goal post and third shot sailed over the crossbar by Plymouth senior goalkeeper Rebecca Przybylo (Eastern Michigan), who played the first half and made a save.
Przybylo was moved to forward in the second half and overtime and was replaced by junior Ashley Bowles between the pipes. Bowles made three stops in the final 60 minutes, including two saves in the overtime periods.
“She’s a Division I goalie, but also a very physical player who we moved up to forward for the second half to help give us a boost,” said Neschich. “We began to gain momentum in the second half. And Ashley did a great job in goal in the half and overtime. We only had that one mistake. But we went with Rebecca for the shootout because she’s really good at stopping penalties.”
Trailing 2-0 with 20 minutes to go, Plymouth began to apply plenty of pressure on the Troy goal and that resulted in a pair of second-half tallies.
Zelek scored on a wild goal-mouth scramble following a cornerkick from Lennig with 12:46 to go in regulation.
Plymouth had a goal called back after an official ruled that it clipped the football goalpost. The Wildcats still struck again less than two minutes later when senior forward Kennedy White (Bowling Green) converted a PK for her 32nd goal of the season with 7:11 remaining.
The Colts did have a late cornerback and a shot wide inside the final two minutes of regulation.
Troy broke the stalemate with 23:06 left in the first half, when freshman forward Olivia Rush beat her mark in the corner, cut back and sent a quick cross to the middle of the penalty box. Senior forward Tahra Brodbine (IPFW) was there to boot home the game’s first tally from six yards out.
The Colts pushed the lead to 2-0 with 20:12 remaining in the second half following a Plymouth miscue.
Freshman Charlotte Sobotka intercepted a failed clearing attempt and caught Plymouth keeper Ashley Bowles well off her line and Sobotka’s chip shot from 35 yards out sailed into the open net.
Troy outshot Plymouth 5-2 over the two 10-minute overtime period, including a sitter from 4 yards out with 2:57 left in the second extra session. But the Colts could not net the go-ahead goal.
“i don’t like shootouts. I would rather keep playing,” offered Troy coach Dan Troccoli. “But this is soccer. We had chances — we had our fair share of chances and I thought we had the better chances during the overtime periods. But we just couldn’t sneak one in.
“I am still proud of this team. They got to the state semis two years in a row,” continued Troccoli. “By no means does this (loss) define their season. They had a great season and played a very tough schedule to prepare them to get to this point.”
Plymouth held a 14-10 total shots edge — 8-2 in the second half — and collected a 8-6 advantage with shots on frame. Both teams traded off three cornerkicks.
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