Fox nets game-winner as Troy clips Brother Rice
BY JAKE LOURIM
STUDENT CORRESPONDENT
TROY — Midway through the second half of a district final Friday, Birmingham Brother Rice floated a ball downfield for an attack, and a group of fairly antsy fans rose with anticipation.
But for the last 46 minutes, Brother Rice rarely threatened.
Junior Ian Fox scored near the end of the first half and Troy went to the lockdown defense that’s won the Colts 18 games this season to knock out visiting Brother Rice, 1-0, for the a Division 1 district championship.
Senior Jason Leslie sent a cross into the middle for Fox, who poked it in with about six minutes left in the first half.
“Matt Habrowski from Brother Rice stepped on Jason off the throw-in, and we have this play where Jason runs to play up top because he’s (better at heading the ball), and I guess their outside back just got lazy and I just walked through,” Fox said.
Troy’s high-pressure defense was on display the rest of the game, as was junior goalie Matt Smolinski, who turned in a stellar performance with eight saves.
“He just really commanded his box,” Troy coach Zawislak said. “It’s not fair when teams just try to throw balls up there and he just picks balls out of the air way above everyone. He did a good job, especially the fact that he was battling through an injury, he was fantastic today.”
“It starts from Ian up top scoring the goal, to our defense, to our midfield, we won almost every battle. When our defense slipped, I made the saves. That’s my part,” Smolinski said. “I wouldn’t have done anything if it weren’t for (my defense.)”
Brother Rice did present a strong challenge for Troy as they were aggressive also. The Warriors got off eight shots, including one wide open in the box with ten seconds left in the game. Smolinski dove to save another open shot in the box in the first half that would have put Rice on top, and yet another shot hooked just left early in the second half.
“They actually did a good job of trying to find some holes in our back line, we were dropping off a little too far and giving them that space,” Zawislak said, “and at halftime we talked about closing that space a little bit, and then as the game progressed we fell back and committed more guys to defend.”
According to senior co-captain defender David Eicher, there was one key adjustment.
“At first, we had a (few) problems because they were having a guy in between our defense and our midfield, and usually we drop off, but that was causing a bit of a problem because there was too big of a gap in there,” Eicher said. “At halftime, we had one of our sweepers step up right into that guy, and the other one dropped back. That eliminated that pass, and it worked out for us in the end.”
Fox’s goal, though, was really the turning point as Troy was able to bolster its already formidable defense with some extra help to prevent the equalizer. Zawislak said that Troy’s been practicing tournament situations for a couple weeks, such as being up one goal and trying to defend.
The strategy worked to perfection on Friday.
Smolinski’s save in the last 10 seconds iced the district title, the second straight for 11 returning varsity players this year.
For the goalie, the win over Brother Rice means something more. Rice upset state power Troy in penalty kicks in 2009 in the district tournament on the same turf.
“That was the most emotional feeling I’ve ever felt,” Smolinski said.
All players except Smolinski, who started in goal for that team as just a freshman, are gone from those two senior-laden squads. Now, the goalie has a message for all the players who had their careers ended that night in tears and despair:
“I got it back for us,” he said.
(Jake Lourim is part of the AdaVan Media Group-NorthOaklandSports.com’s Student Correspondence Program and a student at Troy High School. For information to be a student writer, e-mail Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com or Marketing Manager Dennis VanWingerden at dennis@northoaklandsports.com)
Category: High School, Prep Wraps, Troy
REPORTING SCORES
Varsity coaches are urged to report varsity results in a timely fashion by e-mail to senior editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com or results@northoaklandsports.com, or by calling the sports nightline recording at (248) 812-1053.
Deadlines are normally midnight each day.
High schools and colleges in the NorthOaklandSports coverage region include Auburn Hills Avondale, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, Auburn Hills Christian Academy, Clarkston, Clarkston Everest Collegiate, Clarkston Springfield Christian, Holly, Lake Orion, Lake Orion Baptist, Lake Orion Shalom Baptist, Ortonville Brandon, Oxford, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Rochester Stoney Creek, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest, Troy, Troy Athens, Troy Bethany Christian, Troy Christian Leadership Academy, Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes, plus Rochester College, Oakland University and Oakland Community College.
The NOS sports desk will also publish information on club, youth and recreation teams with local or regional interest.
PHOTOS: Have courtesy action photos that who wish to contribute? Please feel free to e-mail photos in a color j-peg format to senior editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com .Please include all pertinent information, including photographer, link back to web site, date, location and competing schools or teams in the photos and the identification of each athlete in each photo.
VIDEO: Have courtesy action videos or interview videos that who wish to contribute? Please feel free to e-mail the embed codes for video or web-link to senior editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com. Please include all pertinent information, including videographer, link back to web site, date, location, competing schools or teams in the video and the identification of each athlete in the video.
INTERNSHIPS / STUDENT WRITERS: High School and college internships are available. Contact marketing director Dennis VanWingerden at dennis@northoaklandsports.com or Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com.