Tag: "featured"
Swinging some revenge: Dragons stun defending state champion Marian
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com LAKE ORION — More than any sport, momentum can make a major difference in volleyball. Once the pendulum swings, it’s hard to gain the momentum back. Birmingham Marian found that out the hard way Tuesday night. Regional host Lake Orion dropped Game 1 of its Class A regional semifinal […]
Youthful Notre Dame Prep back in familiar spot in regional play
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com PONTIAC — When Pontiac Notre Dame Prep walked off the volleyball court Saturday afternoon, the Fighting Irish were in a familiar position — they captured another district championship. Yet veteran coach Betty Wroubel admits that she didn’t know if this group could do it after an up-and-down regular season. […]
NCAA-bound: Oakland tops NDSU for Summit League soccer title
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com ROCHESTER HILLS — Oakland University didn’t need to have a flurry of chances to bury North Dakota State on Sunday. All it took was a pair of finishes. Julianne Boyle and Meghan Reynolds scored goals and the tournament host Golden Grizzlies withstood multiple challenges by NDSU to defeat the […]
CROSS COUNTRY STATE FINALS: Adams, Lake Orion pace area teams
13 local runners run to all-state honors BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com BROOKLYN — Rochester Adams saved its best for last. The Highlanders’ girls cross country team, which failed to make the state finals the past two years after a 19-year run of state-qualifying squads, capped a fine season Saturday at Michigan Speedway. Adams […]
Lake Orion wins volleyball district, earns date with Marian
(Editor’s Note: Have video or photos of this event. Contact Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com) BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com ROCHESTER HILLS — Lake Orion may not have played its best volleyball game Saturday afternoon. It was good enough to win a district championship and earn a rematch with state powerhouse Birmingham Marian. […]
Finishing on top: Avondale rallies past Spring Lake for D-2 state soccer title
Editor’s Note: To view a photo gallery from this event, please visit NOS photographer Larry McKee at www.lmckeephotography.com. Have video of this event? E-Mail Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com. BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com TROY — Dave Muczynski told Danny Swanson to put some pace on his late-game free kick and the senior […]
Avondale-Spring Lake finals match to showcase teams that are splitting image of one another on soccer pitch
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com TROY — When Auburn Hills Avondale and Spring Lake take the soccer pitch Saturday at Troy Athens, it will be almost like looking into a mirror. “I think they are a lot like us,” said Auburn Hills Avondale boys soccer coach Dave Muczynski. “That will make it very interesting.” […]
Walled Lake Central cruises past Clarkston
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com CLARKSTON — Walled Lake Central made a run to the Final Four in Division 2 last season. The Vikings are now trying to do the same in Division 1 and they took another step in that direction Friday night. Walled Lake Central pulled another road upset for the district […]
Grand Haven edges Troy 1-0 to advance to first state final
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com HOLT — Scoring chances in a tight game sometimes can be few and far between. So when the rare opportunity came for Grand Haven’s Jacob VanderLaan, he made the most of it. The Jacob VanderLaan knocked in a rebound only 29 seconds into the second half Wednesday, and the […]
All the Russ: Avondale midfielder scores game-winner to lift Yellowjackets into first state title game
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com AUBURN HILLS — As an outside midfielder, Skyler Russ’ job is not normally scoring high volumes of goals or scoring goal at all. The junior midfielder goes about his business on the pitch, marking up other players while helping his team bring the ball in the attack, looking for […]
Avondale-Andover semifinal match has an all-OAA feel
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com AUBURN HILLS — This season there will truly be a new state champion in the Division 2 boys soccer tournament. Three of the four schools that are in the Final Four have never reached this point, having captured their first-ever regional crowns last weekend. A fourth member of the […]
The MIAC tradition: Oakland Christian, Inter-City Baptist enter familiar territory with semifinal matchup
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com AUBURN HILLS — It’s a safe bet to say that a school from the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference will make a run in the boys soccer Division 4 tournament each year. It’s almost a tradition. For the 17th straight campaign, at least one current member school of the MIAC […]
Troy-Grand Haven semifinals match squares off two unfamiliar foes
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com Both Troy and Grand Haven have both had teams make long tournament runs in the past, and have combined for seven Final Four appearances including this season. The two together make for an interesting pairing, when they meet in the Division 1 boys soccer state semifinals Wednesday at 6 […]
Troy wins first regional soccer crown since 2003
BY JAKE LOURIM STUDENT CORRESPONDENT j.lourim@comcast.net LAKE ORION — After Saturday’s regional title game, Troy senior A.J. Kalina and the team’s coaches were joking about Kalina’s loss of being the team’s leading scorer. Fellow senior Jason Leslie now owns that distinction with 11 goals. Kalina will just have to be satisfied with Troy’s first regional […]
Upset special: Adams holds the line to take down Oxford
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com OXFORD — Tony Patritto insists that he had one of the best football players in the state on his side in Tony Annese. The Rochester Adams football coach proved to the state why Friday night that very belief on the opening night of the Division 2 football playoffs. Annese, […]
Adams girls hope to start new streak on cross country trials
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com ROCHESTER HILLS — Some streaks are met to be broken. Rochester Adams had a streak snapped on the cross country course in 2009 and now the Highlanders are trying to start a new one. After 17 straight berths in the Lower Peninsula Class A/Division 1 state finals, the Adams […]
Uncharted waters: Avondale sails into first Final Four
Uncharted waters: Avondale sails into first Final Four BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com FENTON — Danny Swanson had a chance to make history for Auburn Hills Avondale Thursday night. The senior midfielder delivered. Swanson drilled a free kick with 14:42 to play in leading the Yellowjackets past previously unbeaten and fourth-ranked Lapeer East, 2-1, […]
To the last minute: Faith Baptist posts stunner of defending MACS champion Troy Bethany
BY DAN STICKRADT SENIOR EDITOR dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com ROCHESTER HILLS — Davison Faith Baptist’s school nickname is the Eagles. Perhaps the school administration should consider changing it to the Minutemen. Faith Baptist scored in the final minute of regulation, and on the brink of elimination, overcame a 2-0 deficit in a penalty kick shootout to escape with […]
