Shootout win over rival puts SL East in D1 district final

GIRLS SOCCER

South Lyon’s McKenna Adkins, left, clears the ball from South Lyon’s Gabriella Cazares during the recent D1 district semifinal at Farmington High School. Adkins had the lone goal in regulation for the Cougars, who won the match in a shootout to reach the district final. KEN SWART — FOR MEDIANEWS GROUP

Image

By Michael J Wallwork

For MediaNews Group

FARMINGTON >> The South Lyon East Cougars needed a six-round shootout before they finally put away their crosstown rivals, the South Lyon Lions, in Wednesday night’s D1 district semifinal.

Penalties were required after the teams were tied 1-1 through overtime, and after the first five rounds, each side made all its kicks, though Cougar goalie Sarah Marsac had a near-save in Round 3, getting a big piece of the ball before it squirted away and spun over the goal line anyway. But in Round 6, Marsac smothered a similar shot for what was the only save of the shootout.

“I was actually originally going the opposite way that she shot. But I read her body language right before she took the shot, and I changed my mind last minute,” Marsac said. “We were really, really looking forward to accomplishing this, so I’m very proud of my team.”Moments later, Lila Samluk stepped up and slotted home the final penalty kick to propel the Cougars into the district final.

The game itself had been a very defensive affair with neither team able to create many quality opportunities. In general, the defenses had the better of it on the evening as a combination of familiarity and a wet field gave the offenses very little margin to work with. In all, the teams combined for just eight shots on goal throughout both regulation and the two overtime periods.

What offense did come materialized in the second half. South Lyon opened the scoring with 29:12 remaining in regulation when Joslyn Drummond fired a corner kick toward the back side, Abby Dafforn headed the ball toward net, and while Dafforn’s header was blocked by the defense, she pounced on the rebound and blasted it into the upper part of the net, giving the Lions a 1-0 lead.

However, that advantage lasted less than six minutes as the Cougars answered with a corner kick of their own. The initial effort was headed towards goal, and McKenna Adkins, who was effectively posting up in front of the goal, flicked the ball in with a back heel redirect to tie the score.

This was the third time the teams had played each other this season, with the Cougars winning a pair of regulation shutouts earlier this year — once in the Lakes Valley Conference regular season and again in the league tournament.

“It’s not just this year, either,” Lions head coach Brian Elliott said. “We play each other multiple times every season.

“So we’re very familiar with each other both from a coaching standpoint and also from a player standpoint.

“We know what we’re up against. But our girls really stepped up. I’m proud of the way we competed.”

With the win, South Lyon East (8-8-2) advances to the district final on Friday where the Cougars will face Northville, who defeated Novi 4-0 in the other semifinal earlier in the evening.

“That (Northville) is going to be a challenge for us,” Cougars head coach Pete Stoyanovich said. “We know how good they are. Obviously, watching them and scouting them before our game, they’re a very good team.

“We’ll just have to make some adjustments. We’ll have to do our best against them. We know it’s going to be a tough opponent for us, but we’ll give it everything we’ve got.”

South Lyon finishes the year 6-10-2.

The Lions will graduate only four players and return most of a team that was filled with freshmen and sophomores this year.

“I’m very proud of the performance we put in. We’re a super young team,” Elliott said. “So the future is looking bright if all the players stick with it, and our four seniors we’re definitely going to miss.” He added that, “This final game will show that we can fight, claw, and play games that matter and withstand a lot of pressure.”